"House of Beth"

Kerry Cullen's short fiction has been published in The Indiana Review, Prairie Schooner, One Teen Story, and more. She is a freelance editor focusing on literary and genre fiction, and she lives in New York.

Cullen applied the Page 69 Test to her debut novel, House of Beth, with the following results:

Page 69 reads:

“Um,” I called, too quietly. In the kitchen, the faucet ran. I cursed, gathered my dress high around my waist, and leapt with both feet into the center of the flames.

Embers scattered under my boots, and I crushed them. I felt crazed, cursed, like a dancer from a fairy tale, stomping out tongue after tongue of flame. I was starting to make progress when Preston skidded back in and hurled a bucketful of water at me. Steam hissed and I felt like an idiot, soaking wet and coughing in the wreckage. The carpet was ruined. My boots squelched when I moved.

“Sorry?” Preston asked, and I laughed awkwardly. Annabel barreled into me, threw her arms fiercely around my waist. “You saved our lives.”


Later, I was back home and replaying it all, working to quash the part of my brain that wanted to tell me I had purposely set up the whole situation to convince them of my false heroism. Annabel’s hug was imprinted on my body; I could remember the exact weight of her head pressing against my belly, her ridiculous hair bows digging in under my ribs. My dad’s house was quiet, devoid of cannibal hamsters and house fires. I kept remembering the turmoil with blushing warmth, like it was a celebration or a kiss, a little embarrassing in its intimacy. I wondered if they were all still replaying it too, telling the story over and over together like I was telling it to myself, alone.

This test is so interesting. I wouldn't say that a reader who read only this page would understand the tone or plot of the rest of the book. However, this page is, to me, one of the top three most important pages in the book.

The main character, Cassie, has harm OCD, which means she is constantly terrified that she might secretly be a villain--a serial killer, or otherwise depraved. At this point in the story, has just met her new paramour (and old friend) Eli's kids for the first time, at Christmas. There is an accidental fire, which Cassie puts out amid the hubbub, showing herself that she can be helpful, heroic, even, and save lives rather than ruining them.

Until this point in the book, Cassie has mostly been fleeing connection. In the beginning of the book, she left her job, her girlfriend, and her friends. She’s crashing alone at her dad’s house in her hometown, avoiding running into anyone she knows aside from Eli. She's wary of taking on an important role in anyone's life, fearing that she will hurt anyone she gets close to. This page is the first moment in the book when she lets herself believe that she might be needed by people around her--and that she might need them, too.

Visit Kerry Cullen's website.

--Marshal Zeringue