Creedle applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily, and reported the following: From page 69:Visit Laura Creedle's website.We settled in to eat tofu and watch ‘Bringing Up Baby.’ The sight of Cary Grant in a pink, frilly dressing gown chasing a leopard— pretty hilarious. But what really got me was watching Katharine Hepburn, as Susan, destroy cars, lose important relics, rip off the back of her dress, and unleash a dangerous animal on her unsuspecting neighbors—all while talking a mile a minute and being adorable. Maybe I should have lived in the thirties. Because—screwball.If you opened my book the page 69 looking for swoon-worthy romance or quotes from The Letters of Abelard and Heloise, you might be disappointed. While there’s plenty of romance, medieval references, and love letters in the rest of the novel, there’s just as much of Lily thinking about what it means to be Neuro-divergent. Since both Lily and Abelard are ND, and Lily is failing out of school, it comes up a lot. Would you keep reading? Depends on what you think about Lily’s voice, and your tolerance for em—dashes. Breaking things, being “broken” is a big theme in my novel and this page is pretty typical in that regard.
“Well, what did you think, Lily?” Rosalind’s mom said as the credits rolled.
“Awesome,” I replied.
“Really?” she said. “But did you really enjoy it?”
“Oh, my god— You know, whatever I break, at least I will never destroy an entire brontosaurus skeleton. Susan was like ADHD on steroids.”
I can say stuff around Rosalind’s parents because they’ve known me since kindergarten.
“ADHD—classic,” Rosalind’s dad said, looking up from his laptop. “Never thought about that before.”
“Well, next we’re going to watch ‘His Gal Friday,’” Rosalind’s Mom said. “It stars the actress we named Rosalind after and…”
“Sorry mother,” Rosalind interrupted. “Regretfully, we must depart for my room.”
Rosalind bolted toward the hall and I followed.
--Marshal Zeringue
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