Marie-Helene Bertino's 2 a.m. at the Cat's Pajamas
This is a really, really strong debut dealing with a large cast of characters in a Philly neighborhood--primarily Madeline, who only wants to show off her singing and ends up expelled from school, her teacher, still hung up on her crappy prom date, and the owner of the titular club--which is about to be shut down. The novel tells the story of all these characters and more over one day as they all converge on the club--and it's pretty great. There are a few moments of writing that'll stop you in your tracks, but most of the time I was totally caught up in the story. I loved all these characters and all the details of their neighborhood. Really well done. I am super feeling this trend of novels about jazz clubs. A/A-.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book is available now.
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