Genre: Romance / LGBTQ+

Pages: 301

First published: 2025

Original language: English

The plot: Cate Kay is the author of a best-selling book trilogy that is about to be adapted into a film. She exists in the shadows: she never grants interviews, has never attended any book events, and writes under a pseudonym. Her true identity is known to no one. In reality, Cate Kay lives three lives: Cate Kay the author, Cass Ford (the name she uses in her daily life), and Anne-Marie Callahan, the name she shed after an unspeakable tragedy in her youth. In the midst of a burgeoning romance with the star of her film franchise, is Cate Kay ready to finally reveal her true self?

What did I think of this book?

I’ve been engaged in a long standing relationship with Reese’s Book Club for more than two years. When things are good between us, they’re very good – on the whole we are compatible. Occasionally we fall out and don’t speak for a while. The main issue between us is that Reese (Witherspoon) isn’t consistent. When she gets it right (Daisy Jones and the Six, The Last Story of Mina Lee) the results are spectacular. When she gets it wrong (First Lie Wins, The Other Woman), she bores me to tears with her drivel. The Three Lives of Cate Kay sits somewhere between the two.

It wasn’t bad. It reminded me a little of the kind of meal you eat when you’re starving. It isn’t mind blowing but satisfies your hunger. It’s fine. This book won’t change your life, but it will engage you and might make a good holiday read. It’s primarily an LGBTQ+ romance about identity, friendship and love, told through the lens of a writer whose book is about to be turned into a film. I read it as part of Pride Month, and found it to be diverting, moving in parts, and some elements a bit cliched (the ruthless book agent, the best friend loyal to the end, the happy ending where everything is tied up neatly). It is a middling read, but on this occasion my brain was hoping for more. I didn’t get that from this book.

What was most interesting about this book?

There are three layers to Cate Kay’s identity, and hence three layers to the narrative : Cate Kay (her pseudonym, and the name that appears on the cover of her books), Cass Ford (the fake name she uses in her daily life, and with which she begins a relationship with the movie’s star, Ryan Channing, an actress who has not yet come out as gay), and finally Anne Marie Callahan, her true identity. We learn that Anne-Marie and her best friend Amanda left their home town for Hollywood as teenagers, before tragedy struck. Blaming herself for this turn of events, Anne Marie shed her name and reinvented herself as a writer. Believing Amanda to be dead, she began a new life in Los Angeles.

I think what I liked about Cate / Anne-Marie / Cass (and there’s not much to like, admittedly – she’s not exactly a personality who jumps off the page) was how she made her dreams a reality. So many people let their dreams pass them by, but she did not. She wanted to write a book, so she did. She wanted to be a professional author, and that’s exactly what she became. She channels her pain into success. Sadly the price she pays is her identity – she never lets anyone see the true Anne-Marie, even when true love arrives. And it is this dilemma that gives the novel its beating heart – the struggle between public persona and identity, between truth and lies.

What am I going to take away from this book?

I read The Three Lives of Cate Kay during Pride Month. Although I’m not LGBTQ+ myself, I am an ally and a big believer that love is love. I enjoyed how this novel presented LGBTQ+ relationships simply, without making a song and dance of the fact that the central romance is between two females. That is as it should be.

Other than that, I struggled to wrap my head around why this book was picked by Reese Witherspoon for her book club – it isn’t particularly special, it wasn’t hyped (rightly so, if I’m being brutally honest), and there isn’t much that is particularly notable about it. It is a simple story about identity and love – nothing more, nothing less. Could it have been pushed by the publisher to be promoted by a celebrity book club, to boost sales and give it some extra publicity? That’s a controversial opinion, but one I have wondered if there is some depth to.

Did you enjoy The Three Lives of Cate Kay?

Rating: 3/5