"The Half Life of Molly Pierce"

Katrina Leno grew up in Connecticut and spent her childhood summers by the shore in Massachusetts, where The Half Life of Molly Pierce, her first novel, takes place. Leno was first published at the age of sixteen in the Connecticut Review and now holds an MFA in creative writing.

She applied the Page 69 Test to The Half Life of Molly Pierce and reported the following:

The Page 69 Test definitely works on my book! In fact, Epic Reads included The Half Life of Molly Pierce in a blog post they did on this very topic. I’ve included the full text of page 69, because it happens to be the last page of a chapter and it’s pretty short.

But inside, nobody says anything. I go up to my room and I lie down on the bed and all I see is Lyle’s face on the ceiling of my room. Lyle’s face on the inside of my eyelids.

Lyle, dead.

Lyle throwing a whiskey bottle against a wall.

Sayer driving me home.

Sayer kissing my forehead.

And I don’t know where to put any of it, so I let it swirl around until I fall asleep. I fall asleep and I dream of green eyes. Gravestones. A hand on someone’s shoulder and my forehead, burning and hot.

Page 69 is very indicative of the tone and structure of the novel as a whole, and you get a good glimpse inside the main character’s head. I think it’s a good indicator of whether or not someone will like the rest of the book!

Visit Katrina Leno's website.

Writers Read: Katrina Leno.

--Marshal Zeringue