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This week's competition, in which you have to identify a book from its opening sentence, is from a novel whose central character is long-lived and trans-gendered...

"He - for there could be no doubt of his sex, though the fashion of the time did something to disguise it - was in the act of slicing at the head of a Moor which swung from the rafters."

The winner receives a ?20 book token and
the closing date is November 17.

Entries should be sent 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 of last week's competition, who correctly identified Pat Barker's The Ghost Road , is Roy Todd of Trinity and All Saints College, Leeds.