"Catch Her When She Falls"

Allison Buccola is an attorney with a JD from the University of Chicago. She lives outside Philadelphia with her husband and their two young children.

Buccola applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, Catch Her When She Falls, and reported the following:

From page 69:

It’s her, I wanted to shout. I’m telling you, it’s her. I tried to stay calm.

“I got this text this morning, and then Julia shows up outside my door ranting and raving about how I’m responsible for getting her Alex into trouble.” It seemed so obvious. “She’s unhinged. And she hates me.”

Ryan’s forehead creased with concern. He rubbed the side of his face. “Micah, that’s disturbing,” he said. “Whoever sent that—”

“Julia sent it. I don’t know why you’re defending her.” I stood up from the table, intending to walk away, but then thought better of it.

“I mean, I get it,” I said. “She had a hard time in high school. Is that it?”

Ryan clenched his jaw and didn’t respond.

“That doesn’t make her nice. Not everyone who had a hard time is nice. She might just be pathetic.”

Dark patches of red grew on Ryan’s cheeks.

“She’s obsessive and vindictive. She’s trying to hurt me.”

“You don’t know where this came from.” Ryan enunciated each word carefully, eyes rising up again to meet mine. “There’s no number on it. And this seems out of character for Julia.”

“Because you’re such a good judge of character.”

“No worse than you.” Ryan held my gaze for a second longer, then looked down and resumed eating, his cheeks still burning red.

“How’s Alex?” I couldn’t hold it back any longer.

“Jesus, Micah.”

“What? That’s where you were.”

He put down his fork and stood up without looking me in the eye. The half-eaten leftovers hit the bottom of the trash can with a thud. He disappeared into the office, closing the door behind him. He didn’t slam it, like I would have, but shut it gently, the latch of the door clicking softly into place.

I’d say the Page 69 Test works well for my book, although, since we’re dropped into the end of a fight, a little additional context might help! This is an argument between Micah and her boyfriend, Ryan. Micah has received a threatening anonymous message and believes she knows who sent it. Ryan questions her judgment, and it’s unclear whether he’s being reasonable or gaslighting. Micah, frustrated by his disagreement, strikes back. (The comment about having a tough time in high school is a jab at Ryan, who also struggled, and the snipe about being a bad judge of character relates to Ryan’s continued contact with Alex, who is in prison for the murder of their high school friend.)

Page 69 captures a dynamic that occurs throughout the book: Micah is threatened or pushed into reexamining the past, she’s troubled by what she finds, and then she’s not taken seriously when she tries to share her concerns (both with Ryan and others). As a result, she grows increasingly isolated and unsure who she can trust. The page is also an accurate depiction of Micah. She’s no doormat, and she lashes out when cornered. If you like books where no one can be trusted, and if you’re comfortable with a protagonist who, like Micah, doesn’t always do the right thing, then I think you’ll like Catch Her When She Falls!

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Q&A with Allison Buccola.

--Marshal Zeringue