grammatical number - Singular or plural verb with a list of three items

I have seen the following sentence in a published book:

Sentence A

There were a toothbrush, a piece of floss, and a tube of toothpaste.

It sounds wrong to my ear. I would write

Sentence B

There was a toothbrush, a piece of floss, and a tube of toothpaste.

This is because I believe the verb should agree with the nearest noun, i.e., "a toothbrush".

Is the original sentence correct, or are both versions correct?
Many thanks