"A Cure for Sorrow"

Jen Wheeler is a former managing editor of Chowhound and lives in Oregon.

She applied the Page 69 Test to A Cure for Sorrow, her second novel, and reported the following:

On page 69, our protagonist, Nora, rides in a spring wagon with her former fiancé’s brother, going to visit their family farm in what she hopes will be an act of closure:

When they turned onto a dirt track that led into the countryside, she glanced back again. Hoosick Falls was already partially obscured by distance and trees. Nora felt a flutter of something like panic, which was absurd, because she had absolutely nothing to be afraid of. She was grateful when Malcolm distracted her. “Let me know if you’d like to stop at any point. I’m sure this isn’t as comfortable as the carriages you’re used to.”

She smiled and shrugged. “It’s all four wheels and a horse or two.”

“Unless it’s a chariot, I suppose,” said Malcolm.

She chuckled, felt that pleasant buoyancy in her chest again.

They rode in easy silence.

The afternoon was cloudy but mild. It was colder in the deeper pockets of forest, where a gentle breeze rustled the abundant leaves, most of which were still green, though they’d begun to change in places—speckles of yellow and rust, a few spots of crimson.

“Does it all look how you pictured it?” Malcolm asked.

“Even lovelier,” Nora said. “It’s so peaceful—and so nice to hear all the songbirds. And it smells so fresh, so green.”

“Well, the cows aren’t far off now…”

But Nora found the sweetish stench of their manure rather pleasant. Not that she would wear it for perfume, but there was something comforting and pure about its grassy nature.

I think the Page 69 Test works this time! This truly is the pivotal moment when Nora leaves civilization behind to venture into the deep, dark woods, where frightening things (and frighteningly attractive things) lie in wait for her.

At this point in the story, she and Malcolm have exchanged letters for about a year, mostly sharing memories of his brother Euan, to whom Nora was engaged before Euan died. They’re a bit self-conscious to finally meet in person, and while you don’t get a sense of the formality of their correspondence here, you do see Mal relaxing for the first time; later, Nora suspects he could be a different person (happier, more at ease) away from the farm, a place that harbors terrible secrets and tragic histories (as she soon discovers)—and she can recall his demeanor on this wagon ride as proof of her hypothesis.

Not yet knowing what’s in store, coming as she does from a very privileged family in Gilded Age Manhattan, she’s still somewhat unnerved by the unfamiliar forest—but also perceives beauty and promise in it (even in the aspects that might seem to be the most obviously unpleasant). Crucially, she sees/senses life—yet the leaves are starting to turn, signaling the chill approach of death and decay; in hindsight, even the spots of crimson are like bloody omens that only look pretty to her now.

Ultimately, Nora wants this trip to be a sort of spiritual cleansing, during which she can shed her grief before returning, unburdened, to her normal life—and while that’s certainly not going to happen, on page 69, it still seems like it could…

Visit Jen Wheeler's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Light on Farallon Island.

--Marshal Zeringue