This is a darkly humourous, late coming-of-age tale, set in small-town Nova Scotia. It is heavier than it first appears, but I might have been tripped up by the gorgeous cover. And isn’t it a gorgeous cover? It is a worthwhile and heartwarming read about homecomings, being stuck in time, and the deep feelings of grief and luck.
Growing up Kitten Love and her best friend Tiny believed in magic. Tarot cards, protective spells and readings that just might help keep the bad luck away. Her aunt Nerida died before Kitten got to meet her, but that doesn’t mean bad luck runs in the family, does it? Do we have any control? Kitten and Tiny would like to think so. But when they still lose Kitten’s father Stubby, suddenly and too soon, Kitten turns her back on magic and herself, shutting herself away in the attic, losing track of who she is.
Kitten eventually escapes to Halifax and then British Columbia, getting out from under the thumb of her mother, Queena, a woman stuck in time from the death of her husband and younger sister, and determined to keep more bad luck out by not changing anything. Bad luck or not, Kitten can’t stay under her mother’s watchful eye forever, forbidden from the nearby beach. So, she falls in love and follows the guy to BC, but it only takes her a little while to realize you can’t outrun your problems or your luck. Her own personal tragedies lead her back home to Queena, her brother Thom — who is going through his own crisis — and her weird and lonely Aunt Bunny. Everyone is stuck in time and not moving forward, sulking in what they have lost. Also is someone watching Kitten in the attic? And where do all these tarot cards keep coming from?
This book is woven together expertly with a mix of all kinds of wonderful potions: music, family, ghosts, love, magic, and tarot. The characters are gorgeous weirdos with strange nicknames who get under your skin with their realness. Underneath it all there is a strong message about being true to who you really are, realizing that you can’t escape your family or where you come from, and that sometimes you just have to lean into grief to be able to let some of it go.
Michelle Hébert grew up on the beaches and marshes of Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. She has an MFA in Creative Nonfiction, degrees in journalism and social work, and she studies tarot on the side. Her writing about mental health, social justice, and finding joy where it seems there’s none to be had has appeared in Writerly magazine and in audio essays and short documentaries for CBC Radio. Her first book, Enriched by Catastrophe: Social Work and Social Conflict After the Halifax Explosion, was published in 2009. Michelle has lived across Canada but makes her home in Halifax, Nova Scotia (Mi’kma’ki), with several cats, a dog, and her two adult children. You can find more of her writing (and pictures of her cats) at michellehebertwrites.com.
Publisher: Nimbus (May 7, 2024)
Paperback 8.5″ x 5.5″ | 344 pages
ISBN: 9781774712740
Laurie Burns is an English as additional language teacher to immigrants, literacy volunteer and voracious reader living in Dartmouth.