She applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, Beachcombers, and reported the following:Beachcombers is written from the points of view of four different women. Abbie, the oldest sister, is 30, Emma is 28, and Lily, the baby, is 22. Their mother died when they were young, and their father, Jim, is widowed. And handsome, although the girls never considered this before.Read an excerpt from Beachcombers, and learn more about the book and author at Nancy Thayer's website.
Marina, 40, rents what used to be the sisters' playhouse at the back of their garden. She's had losses of her own and has come to the island to recover. She meets Jim and they are attracted to one another,which surprises and upsets the sisters. During one sensual Nantucket summer, these four women will fight, confide, and find their lives utterly changed.
Page 69 is the beginning of a chapter from Lily's point of view. She's at a community theater, and she sees Marina come in alone. She thinks Marina is sophisticated and chic--too stylish for her father. "He was a margarita at a clambake. This woman looked like a martini at the opera."
I think this page captures some of the tension that rolls through the book and presages the drama Lily kicks up when she sees her father alone with Marina. It also captures Lily in her most vain moments, although all Lily's moments are vain moments. It captures her youth, and her aspirations and her envy. It's a brief glimpse of two women on the brink of a summer that will transform them all.
Visit the complete list of books in the Page 69 Test Series.
--Marshal Zeringue
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