Kitten - by Stacey Yu (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"Abound in wit and restraint, Kitten explores the funny yet unsettling complexities of modern love. . . . A fearless debut!"--Weike Wang, author of Chemistry

"Yu's novel is both a kind of Gen Z parable of existential nihilism and a psychologically deft portrait of mother-daughter trauma. . . . This spiky debut refuses to be boxed in."--Kirkus Reviews

LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION'S FIRST NOVEL PRIZE - A BUSTLE AND MARIE CLAIRE BEST BOOK OF THE MONTH - A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR: Harper's Bazaar, Our Culture, Debutiful, Electric Lit, The Millions

Katie is far from home, fresh out of college, and desperate to skirt the demands of adult life. It doesn't help that she's no longer speaking to her mother. Or that she owes her roommate and closest friend months of rent money. Luckily, her self-assured, generous boyfriend James seems happy to make decisions for them both. When James takes Katie on vacation to his family's seaside house, he brings Silver, his childhood cat, and Katie discovers a sudden, strange, and giddy connection.

Silver doesn't mind that Katie can't seem to get a job, hold her own at dinner parties, or make amends with her mother. Silver, who gets to lie around all day, misbehave spectacularly, act cute, be gross, and still get fed, seems to have the life Katie increasingly longs for. Soon enough, they're inseparable, and something inside Katie begins to crack open . . . or maybe just crack.

Because if Katie has learned anything from her mother, it's that devotion comes at a price. As Katie's affection for Silver deepens, her other relationships begin to falter, until she's forced to confront what she really desires from life--and what she might have to risk to get it.

Darkly playful, wryly observant, and unexpectedly heartfelt, this debut from an irresistible new voice in fiction is a timeless reckoning with the uncertainty of becoming a person in an age that is as disorienting and lonely as it is full of hope and promise.

Review Quotes

"Beguiling, biting . . . the next book on every literary It girl's shelf . . . [Kitten] explores the political, economic, and social implications of who gets to be 'helpless.'"--Marie Claire

"Stacey Yu's Kitten indulges in the agony and ecstasy of helplessness. . . . This delights."--The Boston Globe

"Yu explores the anti-girlboss backlash and the seductive appeal of helplessness."--Dazed

"A love story unlike any other love story you have read . . . There's something in Kitten for everyone."--Debutiful

"You won't want to put [it] down. . . . A thoughtful meditation on mother-daughter relationships, class, love and the fragile threshold between childhood and adulthood."--Service95

"A fresh, funny, and totally bewitching love story that asks profound questions about attachment and how to belong to one another and to ourselves . . . Kitten will wind its way around your heart."--Gina Chung, author of Sea Change

"Even the most loyal dog person will be charmed by Yu's hilarious, wry, and moving novel about the pleasure and pain of realizing you can be and do whatever you want."--Jean Kyoung Frazier, author of Pizza Girl

"Soft and sharp, totally in control, utterly deranged . . . I lapped it up."--Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies

"Strange, playful, and intimate . . . I didn't want it to end."--Lucy Rose, author of The Lamb

"Exquisitely constructed . . . I was completely unable to resist reading it in one sitting."--Jennifer Croft, author of The Extinction of Irena Rey

"The moment you've finished this spellbinding story, it will play on your mind for days."--Ore Agbaje-Williams, author of The Three of Us

"As tender and brutal as a kiss to the most wounded part of yourself . . . Yu's eye for friction and chaos should be studied."--Ruth Madievsky, author of All-Night Pharmacy

"Enigmatic and entrancing, like burying your nose in the plume of a cat's neck."--Celina Baljeet Basra, author of Happy

"An endearing meditation . . . Kitten will leave you aching."--Alice Evelyn Yang, author of A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing

"Yu's novel is both a kind of Gen Z parable of existential nihilism and a psychologically deft portrait of mother-daughter trauma. . . . The story shines with sharp intelligence. Weird lit girl is having a moment, but this spiky debut refuses to be boxed in."--Kirkus Reviews

"A weird book (that's a compliment)."--Booklist

About the Author