The Postmistress by Sarah Blake (Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam, $25.95, 9780399156199/0399156194, February 9, 2010)
Opening lines of books we want to read:
There were years after it happened, after I'd returned from the town and come back here to the busy blank of the city, when some comment would be tossed off about the Second World War and how it had gone--some idiotic remark about clarity and purpose--and I'd resist the urge to stub out my cigarette and bring the dinner party to a satisfying halt. But these days so many wars are being carried on in full view of all of us, and there is so much talk of pattern and intent (as if a war can be conducted like music), well, last night I couldn't help myself.
"What would you think of a postmistress who chose not to deliver the mail?" I asked.... "This is true?"
"Perfectly true.... It's the war story I never filed."
"Because it would have been too much for us?" The host tried to laugh it off.
"It was too much for me," I answered.
--Selected by Marilyn Dahl
