with her two young children. Her work often explores the pressure of small communities and fractured relationships, as well as the way our history shapes our beliefs and behavior.
Lea applied the Page 69 Test to Prize Women, her fourth novel, and reported the following:
The story of Prize Women sounds outrageous: Toronto 1926 and a rich lawyer dies, leaving his vast fortune to the woman who can have the greatest number of babies in the ten years after his death. The fact that it is inspired by true events makes it even more shocking and it was certainly devastating for many of the women involved in the notorious ‘baby race’ who found themselves hounded by reporters and put on trial in a hugely-publicised court battle, but little of this drama is evident on page 69.Follow Caroline Lea on Twitter.
The page falls at the end of a chapter and focuses on the moment when Lily, a vulnerable outsider first meets wealthy, glamorous Mae. The difference in their circumstances is clear in the description of Mae, who is beautifully dressed and emerges from a sleek motor car, after Lily, dust-covered, travel-worn and homeless, has journeyed hundreds of miles by cart and train with her small child. The contrast between the two women’s worlds will be vital as both mothers find themselves caught up in the madness of the competition, but there is also a moment of connection that feels crucial: as different as the women’s circumstances are, they are both exhausted mothers, judged by their appearances and forced to conform to the ideal of being a ‘good’ mother and a ‘respectable’ woman.
While a reader might capture a glimpse of these themes from reading the short extract on page 69, they wouldn’t get a sense of the court battle which propels the novel, nor the way that the two women are pushed together and then pulled apart by their desperate need to win the fortune. The page doesn’t capture the enormous respect and love that grows between the women, nor the way in which they are torn in so many directions by the competition and the catastrophic events around it. The scenes where Lily is questioned in court and judged by journalists feel vital to the story, and also to modern discussions about bodily autonomy. Page 69 of Prize Women might give the impression of a purely historical novel, frozen in a specific time; however, the themes of female bodily autonomy and closely scrutinised motherhood still feel searingly relevant nearly a century later.
The Page 69 Test: The Glass Woman.
Q&A with Caroline Lea.
The Page 69 Test: The Metal Heart.
Writers Read: Caroline Lea.
My Book, The Movie: Prize Women.
--Marshal Zeringue
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