1. From which novel does this opening line come? 'In giving to the world the record of what, looked at as an adventure only, is I suppose one of the most wonderful and mysterious experiences ever undergone by mortal men, I feel it incumbent on me to explain what my exact connection with it is.' Ayesha, the Return of She She She and Allan Quatermain

2. From which work of fiction was this opening line taken? (A main character’s name has been omitted for obvious reasons). 'Mr. ***, who was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night, was seated at the breakfast table. I stood upon the hearth-rug and picked up the stick which our visitor had left behind him the night before. It was a fine, thick piece of wood, bulbous-headed, of the sort which is known as a "Penang lawyer." ' The Mayor of Casterbridge David Copperfield The Hound Of The Baskervilles Barnaby Rudge

3. So far so good I hope. Now try this, another opening line from a well-known novel. Do you know which? Once again a main character's name is disguised. '"Hole!" said Mr. ***, and then for a change, and with greatly increased emphasis: "'Ole!" He paused, and then broke out with one of his private and peculiar idioms. "Oh! Beastly Silly Wheeze of a Hole!" He was sitting on a stile between two threadbare looking fields, and suffering acutely from indigestion.' Rabbit Redux The Snapper The History of Mr. Polly Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

4. This quotation may be testing for you but do have a go. From which translated novel is this opening phrase? 'Mr. *** lived, in 1872, at No. 7, Saville Row, Burlington Gardens, the house in which Sheridan died in 1814. He was one of the most noticeable members of the Reform Club, though he seemed always to avoid attracting attention; an enigmatical personage, about whom little was known, except that he was a polished man of the world.' Around The World In Eighty Days Five Weeks in a Balloon Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea Journey to the Center of the Earth

5. I hope you are well into your stride by now so on with the next abstract. From which novel did this opening line come? 'As the manager of the Performance sits before the curtain on the boards and looks into the ***, a feeling of profound melancholy comes over him in his survey of the bustling place.’ The Old Curiosity Shop Vanity Fair The Mayor of Casterbridge Our Mutual Friend

6. Now this question is about a novel that has not been as frequently read as it might deserve so I've left in the character’s name this time. Can you tell me from which novel did this opening line come? 'It was admitted by all her friends, and also by her enemies--who were in truth the more numerous and active body of the two--that Lizzie Greystock had done very well with herself. We will tell the story of Lizzie Greystock from the beginning, but we will not dwell over it at great length, as we might do if we loved her.' What Katy Did At School The Snapper The Eustace Diamonds Our Mutual Friend

7. This novel is from another author who deserves more attention these days. From which novel have I taken this first line? 'I was born in the northern part of this United Kingdom, in the house of my grandfather, a gentleman of considerable fortune and influence, who had on many occasions signalised himself in behalf of his country; and was remarkable for his abilities in the law, which he exercised with great success in the station of a judge, particularly against beggars, for whom he had a singular aversion.' The Adventures Of Roderick Random The History of Mr. Polly Around The World In Eighty Days Adam Bede

8. This novel begins with a very long opening sentence. The style is distinctive and all aficionados are sure to identify the author but which novel do the lines come from? ‘Sir Walter Elliot, of Kellynch Hall, in Somersetshire, was a man who, for his own amusement, never took up any book but the baronetage; there he found occupation for an idle hour, and consolation in a distressed one; there his faculties were roused into admiration and respect, by contemplating the limited remnant of the earliest patents; there any unwelcome sensations, arising from domestic affairs changed naturally into pity and contempt as he turned over the almost endless creations of the last century; and there, if every other leaf were powerless, he could read his own history with an interest which never failed.' Pride and Prejudice Mansfield Park Northanger Abbey Persuasion

9. By way of contrast this novel begins with a short and pithy sentence. What novel are we talking about I wonder? 'The schoolmaster was leaving the village, and everybody seemed sorry.' The History of Mr. Polly Edwin Drood Adam Bede Jude The Obscure

10. Another short and sharp first line for you. From which novel does this opening line come? 'In the first place, *** is in possession of the Amazons; all the holders of houses above a certain rent are women.' Barchester Towers North and South Cranford Mansfield Park