Arthur C. Clarke Award shortlisted Skyward Inn and The Loosening Skin, and also The Beauty, which was shortlisted for a Shirley Jackson award. She lives in Sussex with her husband and daughter.
Whiteley applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, The Misheard World, and shared the following:
On the eve of a battle, three soldiers stand on the battlements of an ancient prison. They watch a ferry laden with refugees cross a lake, trying to escape a burning city. The soldiers are colleagues, not exactly friends. They wager casually on whether the ferry will make the crossing.Visit Aliya Whiteley's website.Every time I drew a line under the behaviour of those we fought – told myself: no further than this or I will become nothing but hate – they crossed it.The Misheard World is a fantasy novel that relies on key revelations at certain moments, and I had no idea where the reader would find themselves upon page 69. I was gratified to discover that it didn’t really matter because one of the key themes of the novel is front and centre on that page, in an encapsulated moment that’s a great way to get a feeling for the book without learning too much in advance about certain elements of the plot.
“Three wraps it is sunk,” breathed Imberley.
It grew closer. What had looked, at distance, to be a smooth movement revealed itself to be a surging crawl, and a list – not much, but enough to call it a bad bet. Still, I said, “It will make it.”
How we use gameplaying as a technique to distance ourselves from our fears in the face of overwhelming or unbearable reality is definitely one of the major ideas that shaped The Misheard World. Many games pop up throughout the text. They range from simple to devious, and from amusing to deadly serious. They can be convoluted, cruel, and destructive. Page 69 features an encapsulation of that with one small moment, where the main character and her fellow soldiers gamble on the lives of desperate people to find some way to cope with a terrible situation they can’t control.
This use of gameplaying is then used throughout the novel as a way of showing similarities across societies, classes, and civilisations. The plot moves in surprising directions, but this element retains its importance throughout.
It’s very enjoyable to find out that the Page 69 Test works so well for The Misheard World, and delivers a short, tense, and pertinent extract that highlights one of the most important elements of the novel. After this moment, the three soldiers face very different futures, but this scene links them together as gameplayers and escapists, as so many of us are.
The Page 69 Test: The Arrival of Missives.
The Page 69 Test: Skyward Inn.
The Page 69 Test: Three Eight One.
--Marshal Zeringue
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