The Three Lives Of Cate Kay

The last Kate Fagan book I read was a tough one – the nonfiction tragedy about Madison Holleran called What Made Maddy Run. That book made a huge impact on me because it shined a blinding light on what social media can do to kids – and this was before I became a parent. I taught that book to high school seniors taking a college level writing class and the discussions were both heartbreaking and eye-opening. Additionally, I gravitated to Fagan’s writing because she’s a journalist and that book started from an article Fagan wrote for ESPN The Magazine.

Although The Three Lives of Cate Kay is fiction, there is more than enough tragedy to go around. The difference is that this story has a happier ending. In many cases that statement would be a spoiler but, even though the book is a fun page-turner, it’s clear that at some point the two main soulmates will find each other again. But before they do, there is a great deal of buildup as the reader learns about their childhood, the fight-or-flight response gone wrong that changed everything, what it’s like to be a writer on the run, the ups and downs of writing a bestselling trilogy, and the subsequent fame.

Told through multiple characters’ perspectives, the novel is a candid oral history but also reads like a narrative. Fagan knows how to turn a phrase and write dialogue – I can visualize these characters, their body language, and idiosyncrasies. Her descriptive details are what set her apart as a writer because she makes those specifics essential to the story without going overboard. One of the many well-written quotes is when Cass describes asking a straightforward question as “a fastball down the middle.” Or when Ryan says that “Los Angeles is a big city, but Hollywood is a small town.” I’ve always felt the same about Miami.

At its core, Cate Kay is about friendship, the truth about not being able to get your childhood back, the power of connection and soulmates, and how our parents’ behavior inform the rest of our lives. Amanda and Annie are kids whose friendship sustains throughout high school – they are attached at the hip and everyone knows it. Their (seemingly) unbreakable bond is the kind of friendship that should last a lifetime but then a tragic accident tears them apart and the novel takes off from there. Annie becomes Cass who becomes Cate and deals with a controlling lawyer girlfriend, a movie star lover, a Vanity Fair writer, and the love she left behind – all while trying to hide from her successful literary career. And missing her best friend.

While I definitely enjoyed the book, the outcome of the story is a bit telegraphed. Also, way too much time is spent talking about Annie and Amanda’s childhood. I get that the reader needs to understand where Annie comes from (literally and figuratively) but all those details take too long to unfold. One aspect that works well in this book are the footnotes. Usually I find footnotes annoying but, since this tale is being told after the fact, it’s fascinating to read Cate’s responses to other people’s memories throughout the chapters. Another lovely aspect of the book, which I think also serves as its thesis, is that Annie and Amanda think of life in terms of one another – even when they aren’t together. That strong connection is what love and friendship is ultimately all about.

Quotes:

“Listening to my brain was exhausting.”

“She seemed honored when I shared fragments of my inner chaos.”

“Being the poster child for anything, that couldn’t be me.”

“She didn’t look like someone being hunted – or haunted. But obviously she believed something was chasing her.”

“I’d swallowed this story whole. An entire life. And here was someone who wanted to listen.”

“Listening to people’s conversations both tempered my loneliness and informed my writing.”

“Reading had always made me feel closer to the world, and everything in it.”

“It’s a strange feeling when you break old alliances and form new ones.”

“Springsteen sing-alongs aren’t for the faint of heart.”

“The trick of life, as I see it now, is to make what’s around you beautiful. It’ll grow from there.”

“This felt like maturity to me: caring less what people thought.”

“Don’t let that brain of yours trick you: you’re not nervous, you’re excited.”