She applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, Not Her Daughter, and reported the following:From page 69:Visit Rea Frey's website.I watch her, just feet from me, crouch and fold into a tight little ball. A red orb against a black, early night. She doesn’t see me. She is afraid of someone.Page 69 is actually representative of the whole novel. Sarah, a successful, if broken-hearted businesswoman, suddenly finds herself camping out in the woods watching a child she wants to rescue.
Her mother rockets out the back door, the baby missing from her hip, and she yells at the top of her lungs: “Emma Grace, come here right this instant!”
There’s an annoyed mother’s tone and then there’s this – poison mixed with something dangerous. Emma stands and teeters back and forth. She steps out of the woods as I reach for her, my hands closing in on air.
Amy takes a few steps forward, and Emma takes one small step back toward the woods.
“How many times have I told you not to go into those woods? Get over here right now. It’s time to go inside. I mean it.”
She moves as deliberately as I’ve ever seen a child move, as if time has been stilled and she is a slow-motion mime.
“Emma, now!”
Emma walks with her head down until she is standing a foot away from her mother. I’m holding my breath, and then Amy’s hand is around Emma’s elbow, and she is shaking her until tears prick my eyes.
This is the moment when Sarah can still walk away. She is not yet a kidnapper. She has not yet done anything wrong. But she is a witness to a swiftly unfolding scene that will be the catalyst for the entire novel.
My Book, The Movie: Not Her Daughter.
--Marshal Zeringue
Posts
