This First Line Friday is for the Birds

There are a few authors I immediately click with, but Alice Hoffman is one of them. Since stumbling across Practical Magic at my university’s library, I’ve had an almost decade-long love of her work. And while I connect with some characters more than others and have a greater appreciation for certain plots, the one thing guaranteed in each of her books is gorgeous writing—especially during their opening lines. She has an incredible ability to drop readers into her stories, immediately immersing them in a fully realized world. For this week’s First Line Friday, I’m celebrating her backlog by showcasing one of my favorite beginnings that includes her trademark hint of magic and mystery.

Late in August, three crows took up residence in the chimney of the corner house on Hemlock Street. In the mornings they set up a racket that could wake the dead. They picked up stones in their beaks and tossed them down at picture windows; they plucked out their feathers, which would surface all day long in odd places, in bowls of Cheerios, in the pockets of shirts drying on laundry lines, inside glass milk bottles delivered at dawn.

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Title: Seventh Heaven
Author: Alice Hoffman
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: August 17, 1990
Classification: Magical Realism

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Note: First Line Fridays is a feature hosted by Hoarding Books. Be sure to check out their weekly post to find other participants and some great first lines.