Tuesday Intros -- Juliet's Nurse

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea hosts a weekly meme in which book lovers share the opening paragraph (or sometimes two) of a book they've started to read or are thinking about reading soon. As readers, we form our first impressions of a book from the opening lines, and a good beginning paragraph can captivate us and draw us deeply into a book right from the start.

This is the book I am currently reading . . .

Juliet's Nurse by Lois Leveen, set in 14th century Verona, tells the story of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet from the perspective of Juliet's nurse Angelica. The novel, published by Simon & Schuster, will be released on September 23rd.

Here are the opening two paragraphs of Juliet's Nurse:

Two nights before Lammas Eve, I go to bed believing myself fat and happy. You will think me a fool for being so deceived, at my age. But in our hearts, we all wish to be fooled. And so we make fools of ourselves.

For months, Pietro and I have finished dinner with a sampling of his latest confections: candied cherries, quince marmalade, muscatel-stewed figs. Though he still cannot afford sugar, Pietro's begun gathering honey from hives in the groves and fields beyond Verona's walls. This frightens me, for I was badly stung as a child. My face swelled so large, villagers crossed themselves when they passed me, as though I was a changeling. But whenever Pietro returns from his hives he hums like he's a bee himself, insisting this will be his good fortune at last. With the honey, he can make, if not the bright, hard, confetti candy the apothecaries offer, at least such treats as we might sell ourselves.

What do you think? Are you interested, and would you keep reading?