"Last Circle of Love"

Lorna Landvik's novels include the bestselling Patty Jane’s House of Curl, Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons, and Chronicles of a Radical Hag (with Recipes).

Also an actor and playwright, Landvik has performed on numerous stages. A recent DNA test determined she’s 95 percent Norwegian and 5 percent wild.

She applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, Last Circle of Love, and shared the following:

I’m very curious as to why Marshall McLuhan picked page 69 — I couldn’t find his reasoning on-line — why not 52 or 37 or 88? I shall explore further, hoping to discover the answer, but meanwhile, here’s what’s on the test page…

Godfrey, the agnostic, artistic custodian of All Souls Lutheran, has been in conversation with Pastor Pete. The funeral of Zac, an overdose victim has taken place that morning and they’re both in reflective moods. Godfrey has been putting the final touches on a mural he’s been tasked to paint, and page 69 begins with him talking as the young minister follows him down the Sunday school hallway.

"Man, the whole afternoon I’ve been so down ... and then I had this funny thought. I wondered what a kid like Zac, with his hilarious stories, might have contributed to that little book of yours.”

Pastor Pete stopped as if a turnstile suddenly blocked her path.

“Little book . . .” she sputtered. “What little book?”

Opening up the supply-room door, Godfrey gave her a wry smile.

“The little book you and the Naomis are working on.”

He informs her that his office — aka the utility closet — is right next to the kitchen where the Naomi Circle gathers and he can’t help occasionally overhearing their discussions.

In an attempt to fundraise needed money for their shabby little church, the women have decided to think not just out of the box, but way out of the box and compile not the usual recipes, but a book that will contain their musings on love and attraction, one they jokingly refer to as ‘The ABCs of Erotica.’

Embarrassed, Pastor Pete asks that he keep this nascent project to himself.

The end of the page brings us to a new scene in which circle member Bunny is visiting her husband whose dementia has brought him into a different world.

If a reader were to turn to this page, I’d hope their interest would be piqued enough to think, “What the . . .?” followed by, “I’d better get this book!”

Visit Lorna Landvik's website.

The Page 69 Test: Chronicles of a Radical Hag (with Recipes).

--Marshal Zeringue