BOOK BEGINNINGS is hosted by Gilion Dumas at Rose City Reader: http://www.rosecityreader.com/
https://www.facebook.com/RoseCityReader
Here’s the book beginning that captured my interest:
Dr Iannis had enjoyed a satisfactory day in which none of his patients had died or got any worse. He had attended a surprisingly easy calving, lanced one abscess, extracted a molar, dosed one lady of easy virtue with Salvarsan, performed an unpleasant but spectacularly fruitful enema, and had produced a miracle by a feat of medical prestidigitation.
CAN YOU GUESS WHICH BOOK THIS IS? OR HAVE YOU READ IT ALREADY?
Watch out for the cover reveal and author’s name at the end of this Book Beginnings and Friday 56 Post. This book has also been made into a film, and the author is coming to Cambridge UK, to do a talk in June, more details below.
The Goodreads Synopsis:
It is 1941 and Captain Antonio Corelli, a young Italian officer, is posted to the Greek island of Cephallonia as part of the occupying forces. At first he is ostracised by the locals, but as a conscientious but far from fanatical soldier, whose main aim is to have a peaceful war, he proves in time to be civilised, humorous – and a consummate musician. When the local doctor’s daughter’s letters to her fiance go unanswered, the working of the eternal triangle seems inevitable. But can this fragile love survive as a war of bestial savagery gets closer and the lines are drawn between invader and defender?
THE FRIDAY 56 MEME
I initially came across The Friday 56 Meme via Caffeine and Books, https://caffeineandbooks42.wordpress.com/
It is a weekly meme hosted by Freda at Freda’s Voice, click on the link to her blog, and the rules are pretty simple:
- Grab a book, any book.
- Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
(If you have to improvise, that’s OK.) - Find any sentence, (or few, just don’t spoil it).
- Post it.
- Add the url to your post on Freda’s Voice.
As soon as he entered the kapheneion he knew that something was amiss. Solemn martial music was emanating from the radio, and the boys were sitting in a grim and ominous silence, clutching their tumblers, their brows furrowed.
So of course the book is Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. If the book sounds enticing, and you live locally, here’s details of an author event at Stapleford Granary:
An Evening with Louis de Berniéres in conversation with BBC broadcaster Stephen Chittenden
19 June 2015 7.30pm
This event is being held at Stapleford Granary, Cambridge, UK, here’s the link to find out more: https://staplefordgranary.org.uk/whats-on/an-evening-with-louis-de-bernières.aspx
M J Mallon YA Author and Poet 
