Adam had, for the occasion, bought a new suit. He had wavered between dandyish black, chalk-striped and double-breasted, and a more traditional two-button jacket in deep navy wool. After some consideration he had chosen the navy. It seemed a more appropriate suit for a man who was newly engaged.The Innocents
by Francesca Segal
OK, so I'm a little Edith Wharton obsessed this week. After finishing The Age of Innocence and watching the movie over the weekend, I can't seem to let the story go. The Innocents, inspired by Wharton's masterpiece, is set in a "small, tight-knit Jewish suburb of London". Audrey and Jane both enjoyed it and it sounded wonderful to me, too, but I wanted wait until after I'd read The Age of Innocence. Yesterday, I found it at the library.
What do you think of the opening? Would you keep reading?
I also added my name to the hold list for The Age of Desire by Jennie Fields, a new novel about Wharton's life. Thanks for telling me about this one, Rita!
Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the opening paragraph (sometime two) of a book she decided to read based on the opening. Feel free to grab the banner and play along.
This book is on my list to read. I am a huge Edith Wharton fan. It's been a little while since I've read anything by her and I'm feeling the need too. But I love the sound of story in The Innocents and I'm excited that both Audrey and Jane enjoyed it. I'm also going to check out The Age of Desire....Thank you, JoAnn
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like my kind of read...and I love the cover. Enjoy, JoAnn, and thanks for visiting my blog.
ReplyDeleteI'm very interested in reading The Innocents. It sounds so good!
ReplyDeleteI'd have to read some more to get an idea of what this book is about. enjoy your book. kelley—the road goes ever ever on
ReplyDeleteI read that and I think "dated." Unless, of course, I knew it was a retelling, as it appears that it is. In which case I would think "good job replicating the dated atmosphere!" LOL
ReplyDeleteI think I'd need a little more before deciding on this one. I really like the cover though.
ReplyDeleteInteresting - the focus on clothing as an opening paragraph. I like that you enjoyed a book so much that you want to keep it going. I often feel the same way.
ReplyDeleteThe opening does make me curious...love the cover, too. Thanks for visiting my blog.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, not sure about this one, but that being said, I so want to read more Wharton. Enjoy and thanks for joining in Joann.
ReplyDeleteI think what I liked best about this book was reading it having read The Age of Innocence. I hope you like that aspect of it too -- will be very interested in your thoughts. As for The Age of Desire... hmm.
ReplyDeleteAudrey - I'm already finding myself smiling at the ways Segal incorporates various plot aspects.... like the "inappropriateness" of Ellie's thigh-high black boots ;-)
DeleteI think I have this one on my stack. Going to check. I loved The Age of Innocence.
ReplyDeleteI truly enjoyed this one and thought Segal did a wonderful job of using Wharton's story as a springboard for her own tale. I love the setting and I think it works. I'll be interested to see if you like it!
ReplyDeleteI do have this book and need to get to it. I need to be in that sort of mood to read a book with a woman wearing a big dress on the cover... :) I can be a book cover snob. But, of course I didn't realize that this book is based on Wharton's story, and now I really must go read it. Anything Edith is fine by me.
ReplyDeleteNatalie - Laughing at your cover comment... and know exactly what you mean ;-)
DeleteWell, I have Age of Desire without having read Age of Innocence. I do tend to get books out of order. But being it is based on a true person, I guess this would not read like a series anyway. Thanks for sharing about this book, The Innocents. I must have passed it by without knowing what it was.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I'd read more based on that paragraph but if I knew more was to come then I would.
ReplyDeleteI was just reading about The Innocents this morning. The Age of Innocents is one of my favorite books and Edith Wharton is one of my favorite authors. I'll be waiting to see what you think about The Innocents and The Age of Desire to see if I should pick them up as well!
ReplyDeleteI love the fall colors on your banner! I still need to figure out how to get a banner on my blog . . .
Laura - I ended up not being in the mood for contemporary fiction and put The Innocents aside, but I may end up borrowing it from the library again. If you go to the "Layout" section on blogger, there is a place for the header and you can upload your own photo there. You may need to crop/resize it to fit the space though.
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