"A LIfe Worth Living"

Louise Guy has enjoyed working in marketing, recruitment and film production, all which have helped steer her towards her current, and most loved, role – writer.

Her passion for writing women's fiction is a result of her love of reading, writing and exploring women's emotions and relationships. Women succeeding through hard work, overcoming adversity or just by owning their choices and decisions is something to celebrate, and Guy loves the challenge of incorporating their strengths in these situations into fiction.

Originally from Melbourne, a trip around Australia led Guy and her husband to Queensland's stunning Sunshine Coast where they now live with their two sons, gorgeous fluff ball of a cat and an abundance of visiting wildlife - the kangaroos and wallabies the most welcome, the snakes the least.

Guy applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, A Life Worth Living, and reported the following:

Page 69 of A Life Worth Living lands in the middle of a scene where sisters Leah and Eve, along with Eve’s two daughters, have been invited to their parents’ house for dinner. We learn that while Leah had been expecting a proposal, her boyfriend Grant had been having an affair and subsequently ended their relationship. Leah’s protective father has threatened to take revenge, but Leah says she wants to move on and forget about him, even though she’s confused, devastated, and unable to think of anything else at this time.

The scene on page 69 occurs two chapters before a shocking twist in the story unfolds. Not wanting to give away any spoilers, I can say with certainty that, as the twist is yet to happen, the page 69 test will not give the reader a feel for the entire work. However, what page 69 will give them is an insight into Leah’s story and how her dreams are beginning to crumble. The reader will feel the warmth of her relationship with her father and the last sentences on the page: She frowned hearing Eve’s voice speaking sternly, causing silence to fall immediately in the bathroom. She wished her sister… gives a hint that Leah is concerned with the way her sister is conducting herself. This is an important insight as from the beginning of the novel, the reader has been introduced to the twin sisters and quickly learned that they are identical in looks only. They are opposites in everything else; how they live their lives, their hopes and dreams, and, most notably, their attitudes towards family. For Leah, the breakup highlights that she’s in her mid-thirties, suddenly single, and the dream of having a family is moving out of reach. The irony is that her sister, married and mother to two young girls, would give anything to be single again. Eve appears not to have a maternal bone in her body. The twist in the story highlights the importance of family and, when faced with extreme circumstances, what lengths someone would go to to protect them.

Readers flipping to this page will not get a sense of the overall storyline, but they will get a feel for Leah and recognize one of the struggles that she’s facing. This will help the reader understand and hopefully sympathise with difficult decisions that are made as the story progresses.

Visit Louise Guy's website.

--Marshal Zeringue