Lee is the consummate New York party girl. Despite her steady job as a restaurant manager, she’s of thousands of dollars in debt and close to eviction. She medicates her troubles away with nightly doses of drugs and booze. Lee doesn’t have a dime to her name, but she’s got all the right closes and she wears them to all the right places.
It’s clear that Lee is teetering on the edge. Yves is her rich boyfriend and father figure. He keeps Lee from losing everything, uses her to make himself feel younger and enables her to continue down the same self-destructive path. This push and pull relationship Lee has with reality is the subject of Here, Kitty Kitty.
Jardine Libaire’s debut novel is written in rapid segments like the thought processes of her main character. The emotion is raw, and often distant. Readers can’t get close to Lee, only watch from afar as she spirals out of control.
Lee is billed by the publisher as a “modern-day Holly Golightly,” but she seems sadder and more desperate than the beloved Audrey Hepburn character. Libaire’s story is compelling and gripping nonetheless. Lee’s fragility stems from honest writing. She’s a complex character worthy of discussion in twentysomething book groups.
Here, Kitty Kitty is an impressive debut. Libaire vividly illustrates Lee’s battle with inner and outer demons in a manner that forces readers to hang on every page hoping for the best but expecting the worst from this little girl lost.
