First Chapter, First Paragraph

First Chapter, First Paragraph Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Bibliophile By The Sea , where you share the first paragraph of a book you are thinking of reading. This week I chose Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel. I've had it sitting on my shelf for a long time and I've never gotten around to reading it, so maybe I will soon.

"Most illustrious lord father-

We are terribly saddened by the death of your cherished sister, our dear aunt; but our sorrow at losing her is as nothing compared to our concern for your sake, because your suffering will be all the greater, Sire, as truly you have no one else left in your world, now that she, who could not have been more precious to you, has departed, and therefore we can only imagine how you sustain the severity of such a sudden and completely unexpected blow. And while I tell you that we share deeply in your grief, you would do well to draw even greater comfort from contemplating the general state of human misery, since we are all of us here on Earth like strangers and wayfarers, who soon will be bound for our true homeland in Heaven, where there is perfect happiness, and where we must hope that your sister's blessed soul has already gone.Thus, for the love of God, we pray you Sire, to be consoled and to put yourself in His hands, for, as you know so well, that is what He wants of you; to do otherwise would be to injure yourself and to hurt us, too, because we lament grievously when we hear you are burdened and troubled, as we have no other source of goodness in this world but you. 

I will say no more, except with all our hearts we fervently pray the Lord to comfort you and be with you always, and we greet you dearly with our ardent love.

FROM SAN MATTEO, THE TENTH OF MAY 1623

Most affectionate daughter,

S. Maria Celeste

The day after his sister Virginia's funeral, the already world-renowned scientist Galileo Galilei received this, the first of 124 surviving letters from the once-voluminous correspondence he carried on with his elder daughter. She alone of Galileo's three children mirrored his own brilliance, industry, and sensibility, and by virtue of these qualities became his confidante."

What do you think? Do you want to keep reading? Have you read this book--did you like it? I'd love to hear!