"Mona Passage"

Thomas "Buddy" Bardenwerper served for five years in the US Coast Guard. He is currently pursuing a JD and a master’s in public policy at Harvard Law School and the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Bardenwerper applied the Page 69 Test to his new novel, Mona Passage, and reported the following:

From page 69:

Galán rested his head against the top of the seat and stretched out his legs. There was something surreal about being back. Sure, there were superficial differences, like the modern pay phones and the smoother highway, but the essence of Cuba was just as he remembered.

Except that his mother had died, and his sister was growing old.

***

The air brakes hissed, and the bus slowed to a stop at the Ciego de Ávila station in the unforgiving hour before dawn. Galán, legs stiff from the seven-hour journey, staggered down the steps. Despite his interminable day of traveling, he was wide awake. Everywhere—the turnoff by el Parque Martínez Brito, the baseball field down la Calle Narcíso Lopez—was another memory.

Galán humped his luggage up the curb toward a cluster of people hanging out by a black and red Cerveza Bucanero vending machine. A short man leaned with his elbow cocked against the pirate’s tricornered hat, his palm supporting his shaved head. Galán hadn’t seen that pose in decades.

“Yunel?” asked Galán.

The man stepped forward, his sandals slapping against the concrete and his camouflage shorts hanging well below his knees. He studied Galán. “Wow. It really is you. Welcome home, cousin.”

They embraced, Galán’s back and neck stiffening—he had forgotten what it felt like to be hugged by family. He had forgotten what it felt like to be accepted for no other reason than sharing the same blood.

As they drove across the flat, dark city in Yunel’s borrowed Lada, Galán’s eyes devoured the scenery. The squat, concrete buildings set back from the street behind covered sidewalks, the gaping potholes, the Lycra pants favored by the women who were up and about before dawn—they were like the details from a long-forgotten dream.

Page 69 touches on two of Mona Passage’s major themes: belonging and family. Readers can see that there is a character named Galán who has been separated from his native Cuba—and his family—for a long time, and that this separation has been hard. I think the test works because exposure to these themes—as well as to the nature of the prose itself—should be enough for readers to know in their gut whether the book is for them.

Not surprisingly, though, there is a lot about Mona Passage that doesn’t appear on page 69. First, readers don’t meet Pat—the other protagonist who is a Coast Guard officer and Galán’s best friend. Second, readers wouldn’t realize that much of the novel takes place in and around Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. And third, readers wouldn’t know that Galán arranges for his sister, Gabriela, to embark on a treacherous and illegal journey across the Caribbean, a journey in which Pat becomes embroiled.

That said, I’m glad to have been introduced to this test as a reader myself, and I bet that the next time I’m at a bookstore I’ll be flipping to page 69!

Visit Thomas Bardenwerper's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

Q&A with Thomas Bardenwerper.

--Marshal Zeringue