Disclaimer: The Page 69 Test is not mine. It has been around since 2007, asking authors to compare page 69 against the meat of the actual story it is a part of. I loved the whole idea of it and so I'm stealing it specifically to showcase small press titles - novels, novellas, short story collections, the works! So until the founder of The Page 69 Test calls a cease and desist, let's do this thing....
Set up page
69 for us.
This scene
occurs in the first part of the book, which follows the main character
Elizabeth through a typical day in Denver, working at a job she loathes and
living in a place she’s ashamed of, namely a basement studio. Here Elizabeth is
describing life in the studio, including her mysterious neighbor, who she calls
the Snuffler.
What is the
book about?
The novel
is told as Elizabeth’s first-person memoir. She’s a reluctant Denver transplant
who lost her prestigious Manhattan publishing job in the wake of the 2009
financial crash. This forces her to move to Colorado, the home of her Beat-poet
father, where she takes a minimum-wage job at an indie bookstore. She actively
dislikes her coworkers, and she’s humiliated to find herself shelving books she
once edited.
This first
part of the book is a slow burn that culminates about midway, when Elizabeth’s
bitter attitude and haughty behavior lead to a shocking confrontation. She’s
forced to reckon with herself, and this journey takes her through the lingering
shadows of the Columbine shooting and the JonBenét Ramsey case.
The book is
also a love letter to Denver. Elizabeth despises the city at first, but as the
novel progresses, she falls in love with its quirky charm. The title comes from
Jack Kerouac, who uses the phrase “Holy Denver” in On the Road.
Do you
think this page gives our readers an accurate sense of what the novel is about?
Does it align itself with the novel’s theme?
I think
this section gives a clear impression of Elizabeth’s voice and personality. She
has a dry humor that sometimes verges on cruelty, but she also has a good heart
buried underneath her verbal sharpness. So even though she doesn’t initially seem
sympathetic to the Snuffler, she does worry about him.
I also like
that the page mentions Trixie. She’s a secondary character who becomes more
important as the book develops, and this is the reader’s first introduction to
her.
The novel’s
theme is laid out in the subtitle, namely shame and redemption. This is
Elizabeth pre-redemption, and it’s clear she could benefit from a kinder
attitude to her fellow humans.
And by the
way, I did actually see someone wearing a T-shirt that said LOSING FAITH IN
HUMANITY ONE PERSON AT A TIME. I never forgot it, and then it popped up here in
Holy Denver!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Page 69
Holy Denver: A Novel of Shame and
Redemption
I had just stroked on my
second layer of polish when I heard a noise in the hallway. A strange muffled
snuffling, as if someone had a bad cold but was reluctant to blow their nose.
That could only mean one
thing: the Snuffler was home.
Before I moved in, I had
asked Pat about my fellow basement dwellers. She said, “On one side, you have
Trixie. She’s a nice person and she’s like you, someone who lost work due to
the crash and needs low rent. And on the other side—well, don’t worry. He’s
harmless.”
Which didn’t do much to
inspire confidence. After living at The Swiss Arms for three months, I still
hadn’t seen this mysterious tenant. I did, however, hear his odd snufflings
whenever he trudged by my door.
The sound was actually a
relief, because it meant the Snuffler was still alive. He was clearly one of
those people who would lie dead in their apartment for weeks until a
neighbor—in this case, me—noticed a bad smell. I always took a deep whiff when
I passed the Snuffler’s door, and I listened for his phlegmy breath whenever I
heard footsteps passing my studio. Confirming that he was still alive was
always a comfort, because it meant I didn’t have to worry about him for the
next twenty-four hours.
As my final coat of
polish dried, I contemplated the mystery of the Snuffler. We never bumped into
each other in the hallway, but I would sometimes see his door close when I left
my apartment, which made me suspect he listened at the door before emerging
from his lair, deliberately avoiding an encounter. I was fairly certain he only
did his laundry in the middle of the night, because once when I was having a
bout of insomnia, I heard his door open and close, then heard him shuffle away
and shuffle back five minutes later.
The Snuffler obviously
had something to hide, although I had no idea what. Even though Pat claimed he
wasn’t dangerous, I had my doubts. During one of my brief chats with Trixie, I
asked what she thought. Trixie said she’d only seen him once, and that was from
behind.
“I called out hello,” she
told me, “but he didn’t turn around. He was wearing a gray T-shirt with black
letters. Do you know what it said?”
“I shudder to think.”
Trixie raised her
eyebrows. “LOSING FAITH IN HUMANITY ONE PERSON AT A TIME.”
“Oh my God,” I replied.
“He’s the next Unabomber.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Florence Wetzel was born 1962 in Brooklyn, NY. She writes in different genres, including the memoir Sara My Sara: A Memoir of Friendship and Loss. Her novels include the thriller The Woman Who Went Overboard, the Swedish mystery The Grand Man, Dashiki: A Cozy Mystery and Aspasia: A Novel of Suspense and Secrets. She has also authored horror short stories, a book of poems and memoir essays, and co-authored jazz clarinetist Perry Robinson's autobiography. Her latest book is Holy Denver: A Novel of Shame and Redemption. You can find her at Linktree | Instagram | Facebook
Bitter and adrift, Elizabeth scorns her coworkers and customers—until a shocking confrontation forces her to reckon with herself. Her journey takes her through the shadows of the Columbine shooting and JonBenét Ramsey case, leading to an awakening forged in hardship and a deepening connection to the city Jack Kerouac once called Holy Denver.
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