Tuesday, July 29, 2008

"The Foreigner"

Francie Lin is a former editor at The Threepenny Review.

She applied the Page 69 Test to her debut novel, The Foreigner, and reported the following:
Whoops, page 69 of The Foreigner is the divider page for Part Two. I can't say that skimming this page would necessarily make a reader want to read more of the book, but it's significant in that it does mark the moment where Emerson, the main character, who has all along been a bit lily-livered regarding his family responsibilities, finally takes his fate into his own hands and decides to pursue whatever secret his shady younger brother, Little P, is hiding. It's the point of no return, and from here on, Emerson is a different man, more evolved, more hard-nosed, even as he shrinks from knowing the truth about his family. The white space on the page could represent a break with the past; it could also signify the unwritten future.
Learn more about The Foreigner at the publisher's website.

--Marshal Zeringue