The novel is set in the middle of the twentieth century, and opens in Chicago, where the protagonist Edgar Krug has designed an enormous colored-glass exhibition hall.

This gripping novels opens our eyes to another world, yet its themes are ones we all know.

As the fourth novel in the Factory series opens, young prostitute Dora Suarez is axed into pieces.

Anna Quindlen's fourth novel, "Blessings," opens with two teenagers in a car late at night.

Min's second novel - she also wrote the well-received autobiography "Red Azalea" - opens a few moments before Madame Mao takes her own life in prison.

As Joseph Monninger's fourth novel, "Second Season," opens, the McCalmonts' 11-year-old son is dying of leukemia.

The novel is very closely based on fact, and opens with the burning of the capital 17 February 1865.

Brookner's first novel, appropriately titled "The Debut," opens with the declaration that "Dr. Weiss, at 40, knew that her life had been ruined by literature."

Ian McEwan's stony-titled new novel, "Atonement," opens with a scene of pastoral bliss.

His first novel, "Boswell" (1964), opens: "Everybody dies, everybody.