Fabulous Fiction Firsts #847, Author! Author!
by muffy
The Three Lives of Cate Kay * * * (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook), debut novel by Emmy Award-winning sports journalist (and a former WNBL player) Kate Fagan, is one of the most anticipated releases in the new year, and the January pick of Reese’s Book Club.
Bestselling novelist Cate Kay, elusive author of the blockbuster trilogy The Very Best is about to discover how hard the media is trying to expose her, with the filming of the series adaptation about to begin, starring the current ‘it” girl Ryan Channing. The narrative, framed as Kay's unpublished memoir, gradually unravels her story.
Anne Marie (called Annie) raised by a single mother in upstate New York, shared the dream of escaping to Hollywood with best friend and fellow thespian Amanda, after high school. A tragic accident the night before their departure forced Annie to travel alone, taking on the identity of Cass Ford, falling in with an ambitious law student named Sydney Collins. The pair moved to New York City and Cass began writing while working as a barista.
“The story is presented as Cate Kay's memoir and sprinkled with her own footnotes, but it also offers brief chapters from the first-person viewpoints of many other characters, implying that Cass has reached out to them for their perspectives. Through this documentary-like setup, author Fagan is able to round out the picture of Annie/Cass/Cate and the way she's coped with various traumas. “(Kirkus Reviews)
“Though the pace is leisurely, the tension of the story is taut and explores how ambitions clash with genuine connection and test the humanity of compassionate relationships. It is intimate and personal and digs into the often-opaque motivations of its characters. At its heart, it is about how we deal--or don't deal--when tragedy strikes. Fagan's (All the Colors Came Out, 2021) journalism-honed observational skills make her fiction debut shine.” (Booklist)
* * * = 3 starred reviews

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