“Muriel Donnelly, an old girl in her seventies, was left in a hospital cubicle for forty-eight hours. She had taken a tumble in Peckham High Street and was admitted with cuts, bruises and suspected concussion. Two days she lay in A&E, untended, the blood stiffening on her clothes.”
‘These Foolish Things by Deborah Moggach
Amazon
Try one of these 1st paras & discover a new author:-
‘A Farewell to Arms’ by Ernest Hemingway
‘Back When We Were Grown Ups’ by Anne Tyler
‘Time Will Darken It’ by William Maxwell
And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
A 1st para which makes me want to read more: THESE FOOLISH THINGS by Deborah Moggach #books http://wp.me/p5gEM4-mA via @SandraDanby
sandra danby 
Agreed – I would never have guessed it led on to that story. Then again, I have only seen the film.
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The tone of the film and the book are different, I really loved the book when I first read it years ago. They’re filming the second film at the moment. Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Celia Imrie again, plus Tamsin Grieg and Richard Gere! Moggach not listed this time, only the screenwriter so I’m not sure how much she’s been involved. SD
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Must watch out for it. BTW did you see my response to your request for the book review? GG
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No, did you e-mail me? Sorry if I’ve missed it. SD
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I popped it up as a response on the comment. I’ll dig it out and email you. I’ll be out today, will do it when I get home, cheers
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Very scary. The opening paragraph makes you want to read on and find out what became of her.
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Yes, it’s not your normal opening. SD
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Scary. An opening you do not forget…
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The novel became the film ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’, the tone of the film was saccharine in comparison to this opener. SD
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