First Chapter ~ First Paragraph (November 29)

Welcome to another Tuesday celebrating bookish events, from Tuesday/First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea 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.

My opening paragraph this week comes from The Silent Hours by Cesca Major

Blurb

An epic, sweeping tale set in wartime France, The Silent Hours follows three people whose lives are bound together, before war tears them apart:
Adeline, a mute who takes refuge in a convent, haunted by memories of her past;
Sebastian, a young Jewish banker whose love for the beautiful Isabelle will change the course of his life dramatically;
Tristin, a nine-year-old boy, whose family moves from Paris to settle in a village that is seemingly untouched by war.
Beautifully wrought, utterly compelling and with a shocking true story at its core, The Silent Hours is an unforgettable portrayal of love and loss. Amazon

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First Chapter ~ First Paragraph ~ Intro

ADELINE

1952, St Cecilia Nunnery, south-west France

They are talking in hushed voices through the grille in the door. Sister Marguerite has a distinctive southern accent and, even when she is trying to speak quietly, her words seem to echo off the thick stone of the corridor walls with an energy for which she is often chastised.
‘She said something,’ she insists, pleading with her listener.
‘Marguerite, we’ve discussed this before…’ The voice sighs.
From my bed I tilt my head to catch a glimpse of its owner: Sister Constance. Although her voice is firm, it doesn’t fit her face. The woman seems to have aged twenty year in a fraction of that time. Her watery eye are practically hidden in the folds of her face her lips are thing and cracked. Even from this distance I can see the veins in her hands, the large blue lines protruding from her skin look like the great rivers on a map of France.

Yes, I’m moving away from murder and mayhem this week to an epic as I fancied a change of genre, place and time period.

So… would you keep reading? Please leave your thoughts in the comments box below.