Welcome to First Line Fridays! The day we grab the book closest to us and share the first line. Join the fun and discover your next read!
Today I’m sharing the first line from The Painter’s Daughter by Julie Klassen. I wonder what she sees outside that has captured her attention, and her sketch pad?
Here is the first line:
March 1815
Devonshire, England
Infuriating artists … Captain Stephen Marshall OVertree grumbled to himself as he walked along the harbor of the unfamiliar town, looking into each shop window.
Sophie Dupont, daughter of a portrait painter, assists her father in his studio, keeping her own artwork out of sight. She often walks the cliffside path along the north Devon coast, popular with artists and poets. It’s where she met the handsome Wesley Overtree, the first man to tell her she’s beautiful.
Captain Stephen Overtree is accustomed to taking on his brother’s neglected duties. Home on leave, he’s sent to find Wesley. Knowing his brother rented a cottage from a fellow painter, he travels to Devonshire and meets Miss Dupont, the painter’s daughter. He’s startled to recognize her from a miniature portrait he carries with him–one of Wesley’s discarded works. But his happiness plummets when he realizes Wesley has left her with child and sailed away to Italy in search of a new muse.
Wanting to do something worthwhile with his life, Stephen proposes to Sophie. He does not offer love, or even a future together, but he can save her from scandal. If he dies in battle, as he believes he will, she’ll be a respectable widow with the protection of his family.
Desperate for a way to escape her predicament, Sophie agrees to marry a stranger and travel to his family’s estate. But at Overtree Hall, her problems are just beginning. Will she regret marrying Captain Overtree when a repentant Wesley returns? Or will she find herself torn between the father of her child and her growing affection for the husband she barely knows?
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Now it’s your turn to grab the book nearest you and leave a comment with the first (or your favorite) line!
Then head over to Hoarding Books to see who else is participating:
