A key beginning

This morning, driving home from the college after I had made sure the grades were recorded at the end of the semester, I was thinking, Now ... NOW ... I will go home and read something for the joy of reading. A novel. Yes, I'll pick up a novel. And I thought of this book:  Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay, 2007.  I mentioned the book months ago, exactly one week before classes started.  It has languished on my bookshelf since August, waiting, waiting.

I was tired when I got home, so I stretched out on the bed to read.  When I woke up an hour or so later, my elbow was resting on a bent bookmark and I discovered I had read to the middle of the second page before drifting off to sleep.  Here's the first paragraph:

The girl was the first to hear the loud pounding on the door.  Her room was closest to the entrance of the apartment.  At first, dazed with sleep, she thought it was her father, coming up from his hiding place in the cellar.  He'd forgotten his keys, and was impatient because nobody had heard his first, timid knock.  But then came the voices, strong and brutal in the silence of the night.  Nothing to do with her father.  "Police!  Open up!  Now!"

I didn't turn back to the book when I woke to the sound of my phone ringing.  Instead, I jumped in the car and resumed my social life, meeting with another teacher relieved at having turned in grades.  We ate together and talked for hours.  I'll pick up the book again when I go to bed, less frazzled than earlier today and ready to fall into the fictional world of Sarah and her key.

If you want to play along, this meme is hosted by Katy at A Few More Pages.  Share the first sentence or two of the book you are reading.  (Sometimes it takes several sentences to get the full thought.)  Then, share your impressions of that beginning.  Click this link to see what others say about the books they are reading this week.