KITTEN

A recent college graduate who’s estranged from her mother becomes obsessed with her boyfriend’s cat.

Katie is adrift in Manhattan. At 22, she doesn’t have much going for her other than her relationship with James, her wealthy 26-year-old boyfriend. She’s down to her last $50; her work-study job at the university law library is over, and her last paycheck is stuck in limbo. Her roommate, Lou, is growing impatient with her and their apartment situation is tenuous. Returning home is out of the question: Katie isn’t speaking to her difficult mother. A new roommate is unlikely, too, as Katie has always had a hard time fitting in with other people. (Her status as a Southerner and the daughter of a Chinese immigrant doesn’t help her blend in with New York’s young elite.) When James suggests spending a couple of weeks together at his family’s seaside vacation home, Katie has no reason to say no. To her delight, James brings along the family cat, Silver, whom he’s watching while his parents are abroad. In Katie’s eyes, Silver is the perfect creature: coddled, with no responsibilities, thoughts, or social pressures weighing her down. The longer Katie spends in James’ vacation home with Silver, the more she must confront the source of her feelings of abandonment and powerlessness. Yu’s novel is both a kind of Gen Z parable of existential nihilism and a psychologically deft portrait of mother-daughter trauma. Though it’s a narrative challenge to depict a character like Katie, a “nonperson” who’s “forever losing [her] own face” in the mirror, when Yu starts pulling all the pieces together in the book’s second half, the story shines with sharp intelligence.

Weird girl lit is having a moment, but this spiky debut refuses to be boxed in.