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Sharing our love for authors, and the stories they are inspired to tell.

‘The Thief On The Winged Horse’
by Kate Mascarenhas
Book Beginnings
First Lines

image of a woman sat reading by an open window - caption reads 'will these first few lines capture our imagination' - used as the image for Book Beginnings / First Lines, posts

 

This is a meme for all you ‘First Page Browsers’

Cover image of the book 'The Thief On The Winged Horse' by author Kate Mascarenhas

THE THIEF ON THE WINGED HORSE‘ by KATE MASCARENHAS

BOOK BEGINNINGS / FIRST LINES

CHAPTER ONE

“In Oxford there lies a small river island called Paxton’s Eyot. It is secluded from the nearby colleges, partly because of the dense trees growing at the perimeter. The Thames flows to the west, the Cherwell to the north, and a narrow ditch curves round the south-easterly side. It was here that, last September, a young stranger crossed the footbridge. He had paint-flecked fingers, and dark hair that fell into his eyes no matter how frequently he pushed it back. His name was Larkin. Larkin had come to the eyot in search of two things. The first was magic. The second was a job.

Almost as soon as he stepped onto the eyot he lost his mobile signal. But he had no desire to phone, or be phoned by, anyone he knew. The sun was low and bright in the sky and starlings were weaving in a murmuration above the trees. Larkin explored an orchard. The bark of one tree was engraved with the image of a man on a winged horse, and beneath it, a single word: THIEF. Undeterred Larkin scrumped four quince and hid them in his bag.

Shortly the orchard gave way to a row of cottages, The eyot was less than a mile long, but that was sufficient to house a hundred families, And there, at the end of the terrace, Larkin came to his destination: The Kendricks’ famous workrooms, the only source of magic dolls in this country or any other.”

Cover image of the book 'The Thief On The Winged Horse' by author Kate Mascarenhas

So, you have taken a look, would you read the book?

Let me know what you think in the comments section below.

Just to give you an extra helping hand, here is the book’s premise …

Image of author Kate Mascarenhus

THE THIEF ON THE WINGED HORSE

Cover image of the book 'The Thief On The Winged Horse' by author Kate MascarenhasThe Kendrick family have been making world-famous dolls since the early 1800s. But their dolls aren’t coveted for the craftmanship alone. Each one has a specific emotion laid on it by its creator. A magic that can make you feel bucolic bliss or consuming paranoia at a single touch. Though founded by sisters, now only men may know the secrets of the workshop.

Persephone Kendrick longs to break tradition and learn the family craft, and when a handsome stranger arrives claiming doll-making talent and a blood tie to the Kendricks, she sees a chance to grasp all she desires.

But then, one night, the family’s most valuable doll is stolen. Only someone with knowledge of magic could have taken her. Only a Kendrick could have committed this crime…

A picture button for book beginnings at Rose City Reader

You might also like to visit Gilion, over at ‘Rose City Reader‘, where you can share links to the book beginnings from her own reading schedule and that of many of our fellow bloggers.

There are always plenty of new authors and titles to be discovered.

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Written by
Yvonne

I can’t remember a time, even as a child, when I haven’t been passionate about books and reading.
I began blogging, when I realised just how many other people out there shared my passion for the written word and I have been continually amazed at the wealth of books that are available and the amount of great new friends I have made, from literally 'The Four Corners Of The World'.

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Written by Yvonne