Kate Fagan offers readers a story within a story within a story in The Three Lives of Cate Kay, which takes the form of a fictional memoir by a wildly successful author who does not exist--in this world or in the one Fagan has imagined. Kay is nothing more than a pen name, the third persona adopted by the girl once known as Anne Callahan from Bolton Landing, N.Y. "Annie Callahan, aka Cass Ford, aka Cate Kay"--one person, one life, lived in three stories, with three names.
Kay prefaces her memoir with a plea to be loved despite her shortcomings, but as her story unfolds, it becomes clear that she is her own harshest critic. She even discredits her own ability to tell her life story; Kay argues with her editor, insisting on inviting those in her orbit (her childhood best friend, her first girlfriend, her first true love, to name but a few) to contribute full chapters. With footnotes from Kay throughout these insertions, along with excerpts from Kay's fictional bestselling trilogy, The Very Last, the final product reads less like a memoir and more like an annotated history of a person.
In her debut novel, Fagan crafts a beautiful story of one woman's life across three parts, and also fully realizes a moving post-apocalyptic trilogy that reveals as much about Kay--and what it means to be human--as Kay's own experiences. Fagan deftly explores themes of friendship, romance, intimacy, coming of age, coming out, ambition, and narrative form in a captivating, heartfelt novel bursting at the seams with love in all its incredible, messy forms. --Kerry McHugh, freelance writer