Review: A stunning debut novel by a very gifted writer
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 9, 2012
I used to think Marti Noxon was the only one who could rip my heart out of my chest and hand it to me on a platter, still beating.I was wrong, dead wrong.Chasing Kate starts out this way:The first time I kidnapped Sadie Beck was an accident. In my defense, the second time was too. Initially. Having a little perspective now I can see how there might have been a better way to handle the situation, but at the time my perspective was in the toilet.That perspective, the one in the toilet, belongs to Kate, a twenty-something still acting out, still reveling in poor life choices and an overdeveloped, deliciously delightful spirit of revenge. She comes at her perceived misfortunes sideways, painting the people, the sights, the minutiae of dysfunction with exquisite, raw emotion. Her thoughts, her language, is evocative, poignant and in-your-face--painting descriptions such as this: Neon signs on the storefronts flew by like Jackson Pollack pieces wrapped in gauze. Everything dull and blurry. And you think, damn, that's not a place, it's a state of being and the author forces you to own it, the same way Kate does.And that's before Sadie Beck stows away in The Green Beast, before this old soul masquerading as a five-year-old squirms her way into Katie's heart, and ours.All the very best stories are journeys, road trips either running from or hurtling to, voyages of discovery, filtered through truths and half-truths and perceptions that mold us, form us, like clay that never quite sets up.This journey begins with an act of spite so brutally funny, I squirmed and gasped and cheered, living vicariously through the audaciousness of a woman on the edge. Knowing nothing of her history, at least not yet, we still sense the hopelessness, the state of being where nothing left to lose still has a viable downhill run.Enter a child, a munchkin, wise beyond her years yet never precious, filled with innocence and bravado, and the conviction that only the very young and unspoiled can bring to the inner debate and turmoil when pseudo-adults confront their fears and life's theatre of the absurd.The choice to safeguard and protect the child is easy, the reasons why less so. Kate's instincts and motivations run counter to what moral authority dictates, forcing her into decisions that dredge up the faade of authenticity, of normalcy, of love and happiness and her place in a universe that may, or may not, have existed in her time and space.What we learn ... what she learns is painful, gut wrenching, and seemingly so far from life-affirming that anger and tears struggle for supremacy (hers and ours), and old wounds re-open because it is easier to repeat despair than to establish hope. Kate must learn life lessons, yet the author deals them with a deft hand, sprinkling humor, pathos and a measure of humility.And as with all journeys, fellow travelers form the weft and weave of their passage, opening new paths, new directions, and ultimately hope for the future.The author has a firm grasp of her craft and a masterful ability to paint characters, scenes, events, memories in either broad strokes or with exquisite detail. I found myself rereading passages because the visuals, the emotions, the lessons were so stunning that savoring them slowly often warred with the need to forge ahead and find out what happened next. I quite literally could not put this book down. It is beautifully written and edited, heart-wrenching, funny, soulful...Chasing Kate could very well be the best book I've read in a very long time. Five Stars.