2 A.M. at The Cat's Pajamas

by Marie-Helene Bertino

A sparkling, enchanting and staggeringly original debut novel about one day in the lives of three unforgettable characters

Madeleine Altimari is a smart-mouthed, precocious nine-year-old and an aspiring jazz singer. As she mourns the recent death of her mother, she doesn’t realize that on Christmas Eve she is about to have the most extraordinary day—and night—of her life. After bravely facing down mean-spirited classmates and rejection at school, Madeleine doggedly searches for Philadelphia's legendary jazz club The Cat's Pajamas, where she’s determined to make her on-stage debut. On the same day, her fifth grade teacher Sarina Greene, who’s just moved back to Philly after a divorce, is nervously looking forward to a dinner party that will reunite her with an old high school crush, afraid to hope that sparks might fly again. And across town at The Cat's Pajamas, club owner Lorca discovers that his beloved haunt may have to close forever, unless someone can find a way to quickly raise the $30,000 that would save it.

As these three lost souls search for love, music and hope on the snow-covered streets of Philadelphia, together they will discover life’s endless possibilities over the course of one magical night. A vivacious, charming and moving debut, 2 Am At The Cat's Pajamas will capture your heart and have you laughing out loud.

Genres: Fiction, Book Club, Contemporary, Christmas, Audiobook, Music, Adult

272 pages, Hardcover

First published August 5, 2014

About the author

Marie-Helene Bertino was born and raised in Philadelphia. She is the author of the novels Beautyland (Best Books of 2024 (So Far) NYTimes, TIME Magazine, Esquire, Elle)), Parakeet (NYTimes Editor's Choice) and 2 a.m. at The Cat's Pajamas, and the short story collection Safe as Houses. Awards include The O. Henry Prize, The Pushcart Prize, The Iowa Short Fiction Award, The Mississippi Review Prize, The Center for Fiction NYC Emerging Writers Fellowship and The Frank O'Connor International Short Story Fellowship in Cork, Ireland. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Tin House, Electric Literature, Granta, Guernica, BOMB, among many others. She is the recipient of fellowships from The MacDowell Colony, Hedgebrook Writers Colony, The Center For Fiction NYC, and Sewanee Writers Conference, where she was the Walter E. Dakin fellow. In June 2021, "Disrupting Realism," an online master class and panel she designed to make graduate level resources available at no charge, was attended by 1,300 people. She has taught in the Creative Writing programs of NYU, The New School, and Institute for American Indian Arts. She currently teaches in the Creative Writing Department at Yale University. More info: www.mariehelenebertino.com

Reviews

[Shaunterria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book almost lost me at first - I just couldn't get into the different storylines and the omniscient point-of-view felt kind of obnoxious. After I let my ego go, and stopped trying to predict where the story was going (because I was sure I knew EXACTLY what was going to happen next), I found myself falling in love with the characters, the plot, the city. 2 A.M. at The Cat's Pajamas is not for readers that take themselves too seriously, but it is for bookish folk that can allow themselves to be pushed pulled dragged along through a magical tale of a day and a night in the life a motherless girl, a teacher, a run-down nightclub, a dog. I needed to read this, and I am so glad I did.

[Maya Panika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have very mixed feelings about this novel. The writing is exciting, quirky, poetic, original and touched with beautiful, poignant, throwaway observances. At times it made me think that the author was trying to write like Kerouac - and maybe that was the case, given that the rhythms of jazz pervade the narrative and the 'heroine' is a jazz aficionado and aspiring singer. The characters are unusual; not terribly likeable for the most part. There is no sole protagonist: most of the tale revolves around Madeline, a complicated, damaged, toilet-mouthed, ten year old smoker, jazz lover and aspiring singer. There are reasons for Madeline's complexities - domestic difficulties no child should have to cope with; they didn't make her likeable, but she was never boring. Other characters are much less fascinating: Madeline's lonely teacher Sarina was sympathetic but not that interesting; Lorca and Sonny and Alex, The Cubanistas and all the motley cast who inhabit The Cat's Pajamas (a jazz club fallen on difficult times) couldn't engage me and Madeline's unofficial carer, Mrs Santiago, was just plain dull - until the end, when she becomes really weird. I mean, what happened at the end, does anyone know? That came completely out of left field and, unless it all has some profound and clever meaning that whisked over my head (it wouldn't be the first time), it completely threw me out of the groove. It ruined the ending for me; left me feeling confused and bemused and thinking, 'that was very silly' (but not in a good way), rather than happy and inspired. All in all a bit of a curate's egg. For all its faults, I definitely I recommend it; it's not just another face in the crowd and that, in a world filled with new books that feel like you've read them before, is well worth a few hours of your reading time.

[Jenny (Reading Envy) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was sheer delight! I loved how the author portrayed children as having unique and strange personalities and desires, and also their own internal lives.

Madeleine was a great character, learning about life by learning from her mother but also following her own passion, despite being banned from performing at school.

I love the Lorcas and the sadness of a failing business. I love the principle and her life apart from school. I love Sauvine who reminds me a bit of Bridget Jones.

The timeline was a fun structure, and I kept reading funny bits to my husband. Even the fact that they say Christmas Eve Eve (his response: I thought that was something only we said!)

This is a great light holiday read, recommended. I read it because of a postal book swap. Actual read date for me is July 8-9, 2017, but will use a November date below since that is when the review is posted.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book, and there were times when I encountered certain phrases that so perfectly described a thought or an action that I felt as though the author had a lock on my experience of the world. That being said, I found this book very confusing.

There are several characters that I was interested in and felt connected to. Their stories were interlaced with other short vignettes dealing with minor players who I didn't feel advanced the story in any way. I enjoyed Madeline - the nearly ten year old aspiring jazz singer and her colorful and irreverent language and Sarina, the teacher who is unlucky enough to love an unavailable man, but I was unmoved by Lorca, the owner of the Cat's Pajamas and his son Alex who made up the other half of the story.

I don't feel the conclusion was satisfying to any of the characters. I don't think that a book has to be tied into a neat package, but the events of the magic hour at the club and what transpired were just cooky. I don't really understand if the book shifted gears and went into a dream world, if there was a metaphor I wasn't clever enough to get or if there was some magic at work that I just didn't buy or care about. The ending had me sighing in disappointment rather than content and I find that odd.

This book was provided to me by Blogging for Books to review.

For more info, please check out the in depth review on my blog. http://thefinestdandelion.blogspot.co...

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pure, winter comfort read that belies the pain and loss at the heart of the story. Madeleine Altimari is living in a cockroach infested apartment with a father nearly comatose with grief after the death of his wife. Jack Lorca is on the verge of losing his jazz club not to mention the tenuous relationship he has with his son. Sarina Greene is divorced and lonely in a new city. But the language that ushers each of them, inexorably, to the Cat’s Pajamas is dazzling and light. Musicians arpeggiate through the park and flurries somersault, reconsider and double back. The writing is sharp and wry and imbued with a sparkling touch.

[Lindsey Daniels · Rating 3 out of 5]

[3.5 Stars]

[lucky little cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jazz musicians, teacher and pro-bono-lawyer do-gooders of all stripes, and an almost-lovable jerk of a child prodigy (who's having



a No-Good Very Bad decade) all converge at Philly's legendary Cat's Pajamas jazz club. Resistance is futile: you've got to see what destiny has in store.

Don't believe me? Look what the author has squirreled away at the end of the acknowledgements, then try to imagine how much charm is packed into the rest of the book:

Finally, to Thomas Everett Dodson, best dressed, best man, who as a little boy wore his Superman costume underneath his clothes “in case anyone needed rescuing.” You say you don’t wear it anymore, Ted, yet every day I see it.

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me this novel was a very mixed read. I quickly fell in love with nine year old Madeleine, a motherless child whose father is sunk into himself with grief. Madeleine is used to taking care of herself, she is foul mouthed, very determined and her only wish is to sing in public. Strange things happen when she sings and I really wish this concept would have been more fully explored.

The secondary stories and characters I did not find as compelling with the exception of the dog, whose thoughts and antics made me smile. All stories and characters are joined together on Christmas Eve.

Although set in the present day, this reminded me a bit of the old jazz novels, the discussions of music and an old guitar and a jazz club, holding on by a thread.

There is much to like in story, the prose is solid, although there were things that I felt confusing and could have safely been left out of the plot. Madeleine though, was such a vivid character she alone was worth the full price of admission. The title is brilliant and is what drew me, initially to this book. The ending was a little strange and I am not sure exactly what it is supposed to mean.

[Kyra Leseberg (Roots & Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Precocious nine-year-old Madeleine Altimari is mourning the recent death of her mother and has no idea how extraordinary Christmas Eve is about to be!  The aspiring young jazz singer has dealt with rude classmates, a school suspension, and an absent father.  Now it's time for her to track down the jazz club The Cat's Pajamas for her on-stage debut.

On the same night, Madeleine's fifth grade teacher Sarina Greene is dodging her ex-husband and taking a chance by going to a dinner party with some old friends, including her high school crush.

Across town at The Cat's Pajamas, the owner has just been issued a hefty citation that puts the future of the club in jeopardy.

These three main characters lead us on a journey through Philadelphia and many supporting characters connect the stories together in a charming and hilarious way.  I adored the back stories, humor, and character authenticity that made this a surprising and magical story that I'll definitely want to re-read in future Christmas seasons!

I highly recommend 2 A.M. at The Cat's Pajamas to readers who love contemporary holiday stories full of charm and quirky characters!

For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com

[Celeste Ng]

Marie-Helene Bertino's novel about a 9-year-old aspiring jazz singer named Madeleine unfolds in language that's like jazz itself: lithe and liquid and surprising. Three separate storylines--one Madeleine's, one her teacher's, and one of the hard-up owner of the jazz club The Cat's Pajamas--converge at (yup) 2 AM. But interwoven with these three main plotlines are many smaller strands, like little riffs and improvisations mingling with the melody. The result is a charming confection of a book, sassy and funny and sweet.

[Julie Ehlers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was kind of an urban fairy tale. Lively, funny, poignant, and so original. It even made me feel a rush of affection for Philadelphia, and that almost never happens. Having now read both her books, I can safely say that in Marie-Helene Bertino's hands, you will never, ever be bored.

I received this ARC via Shelf Awareness, in case anyone is wondering.

[Colleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Do you ever wonder if, as life goes on, we're going to run out of ideas for stories? Does it seem like a lot of the books out there are too similar? I don't think that'll happen--the world is constantly evolving, which alone, will garner endless ideas. But I think the author of 2 A.M. at the Cat's Pajamas does think we're running out of ideas...and she tries way too hard to create something original, resulting in exasperation on my part (Marie-Helene Bertino, you have the bones of a great story--you don't need to impress us with clever wordplay, weird dream sequences, confusing time flow, etc. etc.).

Come on, admit it--isn't that an enticing title? Doesn't the cover have a cool 60's vintage feel? Ok, you've got me...I'm in.

The story features three main characters and opens with Madeleine Altimari, a nine-year-old aspiring jazz singer, shimmying and scatting in her bedroom. How could you not love a character who's described in this way: "Madeleine prefers to spend this and every recess alone, singing scales under her breath, walking laps up and down the parking lot. Madeleine has no friends: Not because she contains a tender grace that fifth graders detect and loathe. Not because she has a natural ability that points her starward, though she does. Madeleine has no friends because she is a jerk." And she is, with good reason. Madeleine's mother has recently died and her grieving father refuses to get out of bed and take care of her. She takes care of herself the best a nine-year old can. Fortunately, she's surrounded by loving neighbors who promised Madeleine's mother they'd take care of her and they do. Still she's friendless and dirty, perfect reasons (to children) why her classmates should torment her. She's smart-assed and spunky and she's by far my favorite character.

The second main character is Madeleine's teacher, Sarina, who sees the aching little girl underneath her tough demeanor. She's recently divorced and hoping to connect with her high school boyfriend...the one who got away. She's decent and kind and a good teacher.

The third character is Jack Lorca and he's the owner of The Cat's Pajamas, a legendary jazz club where all the main characters will converge.

So far, this sounds like a story with good bones. Then, the author starts trying to get creative and clever and the whole thing goes off the rails, and now, I'm out. All three main characters are vibrant and interesting, so why does the author have to throw in chapters with a dog's viewpoint, a random conversation among people in a hair salon that has nothing to do with the story, Sarina's ex-husband, a pointless character who adds nothing to the story, and on and on? Why do they merit entire chapters? And Sarina, who the author has already established as a shy, kind person, is asked by some guys at a bachelor party to take their picture, and bam, this is how she responds: "Grab each other's cocks and let's go. Jerk each other off so this is worth my while. What I'm looking at is a bunch of worthless pussies and I wanna see cock." Excuse me, but along that vein, I say, WTF? I don't believe for one minute that Sarina would actually say that. She seems way too smart to think that might impress the person she's with (in fact, I think he's horrified). Then there are about-faces in time and weird dream sequences that are plopped in for who knows what reason, and so many minor characters popping up that I can't remember their places in the story.

Then it all ends with a very minor character bursting, then floating up into the sky and flying over the city. Yes, you read that right. Again, I say, WTF! What is the purpose of that chapter? By the way, I don't consider this a spoiler because the story has already had a satisfying ending and this second pointless ending has nothing to do with the story.

I wish the author would go back to those good bones. The three main characters are great, the setting of Philadelphia (which really could be considered a fourth character: "Good morning," the city says. Fuck you.") is great. But, this author looks young, and I guess she thinks she needs to establish her unique voice in order to stand out from the crowd. Next time, please don't try so hard.

[Lindley · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I was reading this book, it reminded me a bit of Love Actually. Not because of any similarities to the story lines of that movie, but more because of a sprawling cast of interconnected characters whose stories weave together around Christmas-time. Unfortunately, I feel like the massive cast works better on film, where you can put a face with a name. It took me half of the Cat's Pajamas just to keep the characters straight, and how they were all interconnected. Although the story takes place over the course of one day--Christmas Eve eve--several of the characters flash back to earlier times, which just adds to the confusion. For awhile, I wasn't even really sure who the story was supposed to be following. So many characters were introduced that it was hard to feel much of a connection to them. However, toward the end of the book it becomes clear who the main characters are and I became more invested in their stories. I found the ending satisfying, but didn't really feel like the magical realism elements added much to the story.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Madeleine Altimari is obsessed with old time jazz and she wants to be a jazz singer, like her beloved Blossom Dearie. She is nine years old...going on ten. Madeline is smart, a loner, a smoker and cusses like a dockworker. Her mother recently died and her father has vanished into his own despair.

The Cat's Pajamas is a legendary Philly jazz club, but it has fallen on hard times. Barely held together, with spit and duct tape, it is owned and operated by Jack Lorca, who is on the verge of bankruptcy.

This story is how Madeline and the jazz bar, come together, on one long, serpentine, Christmas Eve Eve. There is a patchwork of engaging characters, weaving in and out of this tale, some touching upon the girl and others on Lorca. It is bright and funny and the author seems to have a genuine feel for music, which only enhances the narrative. What a pleasant surprise, this turned out to be. I hope this novel finds a wide audience.

[Samantha S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve always been a fan of multi-perspective films/ books. I enjoy the omniscient narration that allows you to feel as though you’re observing rather than living. 2 A.M. at The Cat’s Pajamas felt somewhat familiar. That quick talking, factual way of telling a story. The pointing out of minute details that seem unimportant only to circle back down the road. If you’ve ever seen Amelie, a French film about a girl seeking the owner of a scrap book compiled of discarded Photo Booth pictures then you know what I mean. (If not, watch it. It’s a great quirky film.)

‘The lobby no longer has arcade games, but it does have a pay phone. Lorca punches in the number. He holds a plastic container of sausage Mr. Santiago gave him in thanks for returning her dog. The pajama-ed girl paces outside the window where Lorca stands, listening to the line ring. She wants the person on the other end to explain exactly what kind of asshole he thinks she is. She speaks with the matter-of-fact cruelty of a Northeast girl. They’re making young people younger. Or else Lorca is older than he’s ever been.'

This scene makes me laugh because it’s Lorca experiencing Madeleine for the first time. This book was a cute, winter inspired, Christmas time, multi-perspective experience and I’d personally love to see this book come to life. Though the undertone of the book was actually quite sad, Bertino has a wonderful way of lightening it with a ‘this is life’ attitude her characters all seem to exhibit.
A great winter/Christmas time read that anyone could enjoy for it’s feel good-comedic simplicity.

[Larraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are books that stay with you. For me, this is one. The book takes place over just a couple of days. Madeline is a 9 year old little girl who has lost her mother to cancer and her father to grief. Her parents loved jazz. So does she. As a baby she sang to Billy Holiday records. (I loved that part!) All she wants to do is sing. She goes to St. Anthony's school and would love to sing, but Clare Kelly gets to sing because her parents are big donors. Her mother was, according to the principal, just a strip tease dancer. (She was actually much more than that!) Madeline is not your story time sweet little girl. She's arrogant, prickly and unfriendly. When the story opens, she is looking forward to the caramel apples her teacher has prepared. But fate gets in the way - first head lice, then an arrogant classmate. Not only doesn't get her caramel apple AND is sent home for having head lice, she is also expelled for fighting with that arrogant classmate. Meanwhile her teacher, Sarina, has returned to Philly from Connecticut after a divorce. She is invited to a dinner party and both dreads and looks forward to seeing an ex boyfriend who is in the midst of a separation from his wife. Then there's the jazz club, The Cat's Pajamas. When Madeline learns that it exists she just has to sing there. The owner is having his own problems. The club is at risk for closing after being fined for numerous violations. Somehow, everything comes together - just hours before Christmas. It's kind of a Christmas story that's not at ALL sweet with a gorgeous undercurrent of my favorite music: jazz.

[Jonathan Donihue · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thing is.....on the one hand, I want to give this book 5 stars for the quality of the writing, and on the other hand, I want to give it 3 stars for the fact that I didn't give a crap about the characters.

This book is poetry! Every line is a delightful surprise. Every word is obviously carefully considered. The story line is first and foremost about jazz music and the writing style exemplifies that. It reads like a beat poem or a novel by Jack Kerouac. In that sense, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

And then there was the story.... I honestly didn't care about the characters! I'm sorry. Maybe I'm shallow... Maybe I'm simple minded... I don't know.

I guess it's that the book reminded me of a really long joke. I don't mean that it was funny. Far from it! Or that it was ridiculous. It was actually quite profound! The thing is, the character development was boring and, like a long, tedious joke, it only came together at the end. Up until that point, I found the entire storyline uninteresting.

I recognize, though, that this may be a bias on my part. As I said, the writing was phenomenal! I can imagine another person rating this book among their favorite all time reads. In fact, I can imagine it becoming a cult classic. So, for my personal taste, I have to rate it a 3, but objectively it's a 5.

You decide.....

P.S. I read this book in its audio format. I was not at all impressed by the narration. Enough said.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tragically, my current need to speed-read textbooks and papers and turn them into lecture slides all week is making reading on weekday evenings relatively unappealing. Even my bloody PhD didn’t undermine my greatest love in this cruel fashion! At least I still feel like books at weekends. I’d hoped that ‘2am at The Cat’s Pajamas’ would be diverting, and to a point it was. But not enough to drive work-worries out of my head, which is what I require right now. I was initially disconcerted to realise that the story is set in the present day, while the focus on a jazz club had given me the idea it was historical, probably 1920s/1930s. No matter, there was still plenty of amusement to be found. The main character is an absolutely delightful little girl called Madeline Altimari, who dislikes kids her own age and wants to be a jazz singer. When the narrative focused on her, I really enjoyed it. The love life of her teacher, Sarina Greene, I found less compelling; likewise, the unfortunate tribulations of Jack Lorca. Nonetheless, much of the dialogue and narration was very funny and periodically insightful in an offhand sort of way. Had I read it at a less stressful point in time, I would probably have been more susceptible to its charms and awarded an additional star.

[Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is so much stuff going on in this book that has nothing whatsoever to do with the story-line it just becomes annoying. Perhaps the author had to produce a certain number of words in order to have the book published so it is filled with random ramblings that lead nowhere. A plethora of secondary characters and long passages of inane conversation that add nothing to move the story along.

The jacket synopsis tells us that the story is about Madeleine; a 9 year old aspiring jazz singer who hears about a jazz club called The Cat's Pajamas and sets out to find it. The problem is that Madeleine doesn't even hear about this jazz club until page 57! The secondary story-lines for Sarina (Madeleine's teacher) and Lorca (owner of The Cat's Pajamas) seem superfluous.

I was taken in by the premise of the story but the best part of the story is buried under a mountain of unrelated goings-on. There must be some mystical meaning to the ending that totally escaped me. The most interesting character in the book is Pedro, the dog.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chock-full of metaphory goodness, 2AM at The Cat's Pajamas beautifully weaves together three storylines gravitating around a past-its-prime jazz club. The novel's Old World feel perfectly suited the smokey barroom. The secondary characters were just as intriguing as the key figures and the foul-mouthed nine-year-old at the center of it all quickly became a favorite of mine. With it's catchy title and gripping characters, I can easily see this novel gaining a following, maybe not in the mainstream media, but underground - and I don't see that as a bad thing at all! This is a special novel that I'll have at the ready whenever someone asks for a solid story, but without all the hype and fanfare.

For the full review and more, head over to The Pretty Good Gatsby!

[Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I seriously loved this book. I was skeptical of the multiple story lines and POVs at first, but as I got to know the characters and immersed myself in their thoughts and dialogue, I was absolutely enchanted. I've come to realize that sassy children are some of my absolute favorite characters in the books I've been reading this year, so I totally fell in love with Madeline. I also loved how the adult characters interacted with her throughout this story. Sarina & Ben's story was so heartwarming and I just wanted to read more about them as well. Overall, this is an extremely cozy and delightful read that I think folks who love a good character-driven story will love.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This reminded me of a certain sort of holiday movie - think Love Actually or 200 Cigarettes (the 1999 movie about hipsters on New Year's Eve) that covers one day's happenings and follows the actions of a large linked assortment of characters. But then add a hyperverbal 10-year-old, lots of quirk and whimsy, several off-key notes, a few too many characters, and a very strange conclusion. There are some great sentences here (which I regretfully failed to mark). Not "staggeringly original" at all, but okay.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

One thing is for certain, 2 A.M. at the Cat's Pajamas would be a perfect film. Sylvain Chomet needs to adapt it - no one else.

The book focuses on three people; Precocious Madeleine , a nine year old with problems and yet can sing, her fifth grade teacher Sarina and the owner of the Cat's Pajamas club Lorca. Within 24 hours the destinies of these three characters cris-cross until the grand finale.

As such there's some charm in the book but other than the Mary Poppinsesque ending it's pretty predictable but the book has enough whimsy and memorable characters to keep it afloat. The writing is good and the plot wants to make you read on as they are short but ultimately it's like eating a rice krispie cake; there's a small thrill but it's not very satisfying. It's comfort reading and nothing else.

[Allison ༻hikes the bookwoods༺ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I so wanted to love this book, but I just couldn't wait for it to be over. It's not a plot driven novel so I thought I was in for a treat getting to know the characters, but there were so many and they were all so annoying. Throw in some magical realism (which I tend to hate) and I was done.

[Ryah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful

[Siena · Rating 3 out of 5]

sweet and sort of old fashioned in a way that makes one nostalgic for december in 2014 philadelphia (a new and interesting emotion??) and caramel apples

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely Christmas story!

[Corrine Fizer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my absolute favorite book of all time. I have reread this almost three times and find myself falling in love with it more and more every time. It is packed full of magic and whimsy as every single aspect of this book is personified. The snow, the city and even a stray dog have personalities of their own. The book revolves around a rotation of multidimensional characters and I can’t imagine the book without the presence of each one. They all add value in some way, shape or form.

I think the point of this book has gone over the heads of some of the negative reviews on Goodreads. If you don’t like magical realism, you won’t like 2AM. Spoiler: this book is a metaphor for freedom, in my eyes. A great example of this is in the POV of Mrs Santiago, who "evaluates all situations through the prism of her late husband Daniel's likes and dislikes." She had tied herself to him and to the deli shop. And we see this with Lorca, who inherited the jazz club and feels stuck with it until 2AM receives its final citation after Madeleine sings — what will he go on to do next? Each of the main characters in the book is in some way bound. Bound by their circumstances, prior experiences, jealousies, emotional or physical pains, addictions, etc.; each needs to be set free. In at least some small way each major character is set free over the course of one night: Sarina, Ben, Lorca, Madeleine, Mrs. Santiago, even Pedro.

I think the ending confuses a lot of people because they don’t see this metaphor. We see Rose float away from her shop, and the city calls out to her and tries to suck her back down. Our places and circumstances tend to do that to us. Whether it is our home town, college town, or wherever we find ourselves stuck, these places tend to pull us back in. At the dinner party, Michael says, "This city has the highest recidivism rate in America." Ben follows up, “it means you have no options...you can't get away no matter how hard you try." This might seem like a bad thing, being glued and bound by a place. But it can also be a beautiful thing to have intimate knowledge of a place, so much so that it becomes a living, breathing being with feelings and motives of its own. Only if you truly know a city, can you know its secrets, its beautiful hidden places the tourists never see. The small details of fish at the market and conversations at a beauty parlor. Only if you know a place can you appreciate the beauty in what is arguably “just a day” for these characters. And maybe, only if you've ever known this feeling, can you truly appreciate this metaphor.

Simply put.. If you love one liners that pack a punch — so much so that you get goosebumps — read, read and read again. Bertino is an excellent storyteller, but she weaves sentences so craftfully that it’s almost as if she creates a language all her own. It’s mesmerizing and I just adore her style.

She is also a fantastic human being. I expressed how much this book means to me in her DMs on Instagram and, not only did she reply, she sent me a signed copy of another one of her books to devour. I highly recommend giving this book a read.

[Bridgit · Rating 3 out of 5]

“If you are anything other than humbled in the presence of love, you are not in the presence of love.”

I thoroughly enjoyed the plot and found the characters well-crafted and interesting, particularly the nine-year-old Madeleine Altimari. Her dream to sing in front of a large crowd was inspiring, and her backstory was incredibly sad.

At times, I found the writing to be rather erratic and confusing, almost as if the author was unsure just what writing style she wanted to ultimately choose. This sometimes took away from my enjoyment of the overall plot.

I loved how this novel was a quick, easy read, and perfect for a day of relaxation over Christmas break. I look forward to reading more from Bertino in the future! 3.5 out of 5 stars.

[Gail Gauthier · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite passage:

"Madeline has no friends: Not because she contains a tender grace that fifth graders detect and loath. Not because she has a natural ability that points her starward, though she does. Madeline has no friends because she is a jerk."

I finished that last line and thought, Why don't I see things like this in kids' books? Wouldn't child readers appreciate this kind of observation?

Excerpt from Original Content