First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if, instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

The Rules:

• Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page.
• Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first.
• Finally… reveal the book!

First Lines:

“The Girls House of Juvenile Detention in the Bronx was where underage girls were kept until authorities decided what should be done with them. The building looked as if it had never been new. The cinder block walls had always been coated with grime, the steel mesh covering the dirty windows, always rusty.”

This is one of my most anticipated books of the month, and the author set the scene so well. I’m even more curious now.

Do you recognize the lines?

Here’s a hint:

This is an upcoming historical fiction.

Still not sure? Here’s another hint:

It’s written by Jean Ende.

The First Lines Friday book is:

Houses of Detention.

About the Book:

• Title: Houses of Detention
• Author: Jean Ende
• Page Length: 368 pages
• Publication Date: April 1, 2025
• Publisher: Apprentice House

Synopsis:

So what’s a nice girl from a good family doing in a place like the Bronx House of Detention?

Like many immigrants who flee persecution, when the Rosens escaped the Nazis they thought life in America would be perfect. And for a while it was. Men developed successful businesses, a mink stole hung in every hall closet, overly abundant high-carb food graced all tables and grandma preserved traditions while finishing her weekly bottle of whiskey.

But then cracks appeared—a teenager pushed boundaries so far that the police became part of the family story, an in-law loudly mourned the status he had in their village and a woman with stricter beliefs married into the family causing catastrophic rifts.

Despite the ever-present shadow of the Holocaust there’s frequent humor. People who eat frozen, pre-packaged bagels are condemned, Cossacks who once incinerated towns are now Bar Mitzvah waiters carrying flaming cherries jubilee, the chippie dating the synagogue president carries a bejeweled poodle-shaped purse that barks in French and no one understands how WASPs can wear leather loafers without socks.

This book has enough twists, turns, and turmoil to make anyone, immigrant of Mayflower descendant, cry, Oy Vey!

Links: Goodreads     

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