"In Sight of Stars"

Gae Polisner's books include The Memory of Things, The Summer of Letting Go, and The Pull of Gravity. Her new novel is In Sight of Stars.

A family law attorney and mediator by trade, but a writer by calling, she lives on Long Island with her husband, two sons, and a suspiciously-fictional-looking small dog she swore she’d never own. When she’s not writing, she can be found in a pool, or better yet, in the open waters of the Long Island Sound where she swims upwards of two miles most days.

Polisner applied the Page 69 Test to In Sight of Stars and reported the following:

On page 69, my MC Klee (pronounced “Clay”), who is at the beginning of a two-week stay at an inpatient adolescent psychiatric center after an act of self harm, is lost in telling his therapist about his first real date with Sarah, the girl in his new high school who was the first person to take his mind off all the horrible stuff that has happened to him recently.

At the bottom of the page, he stops, mid-story, remembering Dr. Alvarez is in the room:

Dr. Alvarez has put her pen down. Her eyes are closed, and for a second I wonder if she’s sleeping. I can’t believe I’m telling her all this stupid stuff anyway. The small things. The private things. What do they even matter now?

She shifts her feet under the table, opens her eyes, and studies me. “I love Central Park,” she says. “And don’t be fooled by my eyes,” she adds, closing them again. “Sometimes I just listen best this way.”

I love this moment from page 69 because it shows you the skill Dr. Alvarez possesses to bring Klee to her and allow him to trust her, and in fact, shows you the moment he begins to do just that, trust her, which is, of course, key to his healing.

Visit Gae Polisner's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Summer of Letting Go.

The Page 69 Test: The Memory of Things.

Writers Read: Gae Polisner.

--Marshal Zeringue