First Impressions

This week's First Impressions, the competition in which you have to identify a book from its opening sentence, comes from a novelist who has invented a small city: "All day long, I sat half buried in sand piled in a corner of our garden, raising castles and mountain-ranges, unaware of the fierce Madras sun overhead."

Entries should be submitted to First Impressions, the THES, Admiral House, 66-68 East Smithfield, London E1 9XY, faxed to 0171 782 3300 or emailed to theschat@thes.co.uk The winner receives a Pounds 20 book token and the closing date is November 25. The winner of last week's competition, who identified Charles Lyell's Principles of Geology, is Alan Stanton of Richmond, Surrey.