The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan

This is a bit of a story within a story, which seems to be cloaked in some kind of back story related to the author. As the title states, Cate Kay has lived three lives. Now it’s time for her to open up and reveal the truth--at least some of it. We never quite see what makes Cate tick, just the things that drive her to change her identity. The book starts in 1991, in her early youth. Gradually, we learn more about her and why she adopted three different identities and how now, in 2013, she lives a reclusive life. The book goes on to more or less unravel the layers of Cate’s life, revealing the aspirations of a young dreamer who once envisioned Hollywood stardom alongside her best friend and the love of her life, Amanda. Their plans, brimming with hope and ambition, are derailed by an unnamed tragedy that sends our protagonist fleeing into a life of aliases and secrets. Throughout Cate’s life, she experiences several relationships, maybe love and definitely manipulation, yet her one true love remains elusive. I would also say that the deceptions also leave Cate Kay as more two dimentional than is ideal in a character we are meant to at least sympathize with if not identify with--she doesn't come out of it with much in the way of depth, and it was a disappointing read from the Reese Book club oeuvre for me.