DFW Writer’s Workshop. As the oldest of three sisters, she’s a diehard fan of Little Women.
Bernet applied the Page 69 Test to Beth Is Dead, her debut novel, and reported the following:
Very interesting. Page 69 of Beth Is Dead is a quieter scene—not one of the fast-paced, drama-filled scenes you’ll find in the rest of the book—but it establishes one of the novel’s deeper themes. This book is a modern retelling of Little Women as a mystery-thriller in which Beth March is found murdered in chapter one. Page 69 is part of a flashback that plunges the reader into Beth’s perspective. On this page, she’s talking to a cute boy (hello, romantic subplot) and revealing that she and her sisters have been the unwilling subjects of their dad’s controversial bestselling novel. Beth doesn’t like how she’s portrayed in her dad’s book. She says, “Perfect isn’t always a good thing. He wrote me as someone who never pushes back, never speaks up, never wants anything, I mean really wants anything, for herself.” In Beth Is Dead, Beth March and her sisters push against their stereotypes and expand their views of themselves and each other—and page 69 crystalizes that concept. It’s also the first spark of a love story between Beth March and one of the Hummels, so if you’ve ever wanted more for Beth—more joy, more fire, more drama—I think you’ll enjoy what’s established on page 69.Visit Katie Bernet's website.
--Marshal Zeringue
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