for the Helen Sheehan Book Prize in 2018. When she isn't plotting fictional crimes, she enjoys baking, running, and binge-watching Lifetime movies. She lives in Atlanta.
Auffarth applied the Page 69 Test to Burn It All, her debut novel, and reported the following:
From page 69:Visit Maggie Auffarth's website.I nod, doing my best imitation of sympathy. People like Scott – handsome, talented guys, even the ones hovering toward the bottom rung of middle-class – they can’t fathom a life where those things have always mattered. Where the first chance might be the only one you get. And, for a second, I wonder what it must be like to live a life assuming the world will undress and lay itself bare before you, splayed and ready.Hmmm, this is a tough one, but I’d say that Burn It All doesn’t quite pass the Page 69 Test. While the scene above does give us some key insights into Thea – her disdain for people who seem to go through life effortlessly, and her lack of self-confidence – it’s ultimately not indicative of her character. In fact, this high school flashback is the only scene in the book where Thea does something purely to win the approval of others. Though she knows she isn’t interested in Scott, she also knows that associating with him is the quickest way to raise her social standing. Normally, this isn’t something Thea cares about, but she can feel her best friend, Marley, drifting away from her and falling in with the popular crowd, and Thea’s desperate to win her back.
“I need another drink,” I tell him, my voice rough. “You want anything?”
Scott pops the whole s’more into his mouth and talks around it. “I think I saw a cooler underneath the deck,” he says, and then he’s charging forward and I’m following.
Sure enough, there’s a spare cooler tucked up underneath the deck and Scott digs two ciders out from the ice, popping the top off one and handing it to me. I take a swig, cringing at the sweetness of it on my tongue and down my throat, like pure, fizzing sugar.
Scott leans his shoulder against one of the wooden support beams and looks at me. It’s dark here, the only light falling from between the small gaps in the deck, but I can still make out the path of his eyes as they sweep up and down the length of my body.
“You’re a cool girl, Thea,” he says – whispers, really, and I can feel my mouth falling open in shock, which makes him laugh. He reaches out and tucks a loose curl behind my ear and the smoothness of the gesture surprises me, like he’s done it before – like he’s been waiting to do it for a long time. “I always had kind of a crush on you.”
“Shut up,” I say reflexively, and he laughs, unfazed.
He takes a step toward me, and it feels like all the air around me is sucked up by the vacuum of his presence. “Okay,” he says and then, suddenly, he kisses me. I go stiff, my back pressed into the wooden beam. Paralyzed by the shock of it, even though this is exactly what I wanted to happen.
I swallow hard and force my lips to move. Force my tongue to engage with his. He tastes like chocolate.
I’d like to say that I’ve always had a thing for Scott – that this kiss is a real fairy tale, full-circle moment for me. But that would be a lie. The truth is a lot simpler, and a lot harsher.
I do think this scene is a good example of the mind games Thea and Marley are constantly playing with each other. Though Marley isn’t mentioned on page 69, she’s the motivation behind Thea’s actions here, and the two are perpetually locked in a battle of wills, each trying by turns to one-up and impress the other.
This scene also introduces us to the character of Scott, who goes on to play a critical role in both Thea and Marley’s adult lives. Lastly, it serves as the catalyst for one of the book’s darkest plot points, which I won’t spoil, but which sets the stage for the present-day story’s main action.
My Book, The Movie: Burn It All.
Q&A with Maggie Auffarth.
--Marshal Zeringue
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