Kitten
A debut novel about mothers, class, love, and the dizzying task of becoming yourself
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Kitten
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Narrated by:
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By:
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Stacey Yu
About this listen
'A spellbinding story . . . it will play on your mind for days' ORE AGBAJE-WILLIAMS, author of The Three of Us
'A fresh, funny, and totally bewitching girl-meets-cat love story' GINA CHUNG, author of Sea Change
A magnetic novel about a young woman who falls in love with her boyfriend's cat.
Katie hasn't spoken to her mother in a year when her boyfriend James introduces her to his cat Silver. A small, vulnerable, incorrigible ball of need, Silver's acceptance of Katie cracks open something inside of her: an unravelling begins.
Fresh out of college and far from home, Katie is desperate to skirt the demands of adult life - especially because, as she promised her mother, the plan was to never grow up in the first place. Luckily, she has James: self-assured, generous, and seemingly happy to make decisions for them both.
When they go on holiday to James's family's seaside home, Katie's attachment to Silver grows. Silver doesn't mind that Katie can't seem to get a job, hold her own at dinner parties, or make amends with her mother. Silver, who gets to misbehave spectacularly, be childish, be gross, and still get fed, seems to have the life Katie increasingly longs for. But as their bond intensifies, Katie's other relationships reach tipping points. Soon, Katie must come to terms with what she really wants, and what she might have to risk to get it.
Delicately playful and unexpectedly heartfelt, Kitten is a sensitive reckoning with the allure of helplessness and the uncertainty of becoming yourself in a world that is as disorienting as it is full of hope and connection.©2026 Stacey Yu (P)2026 Penguin Random House Audio
Critic reviews
Kitten captures the vulnerability of early adulthood with startling precision. Abound in wit and restraint, the novel explores the funny yet unsettling complexities of modern love. What does it mean to be looked after versus seen? Are love and safety one and the same? A fearless debut! (Weike Wang, author of Chemistry)
Stacey Yu's Kitten is as tender and brutal as a kiss to the most wounded part of yourself. Yu perfectly captures how it feels to be young and terrified of yourself. To call a novel this fierce Kitten . . . Yu's eye for friction and chaos should be studied (Ruth Madievsky, author of All Night Pharmacy)
Within the first few lines of Stacey Yu's Kitten so much is revealed with such tact and precision, and it's a telling sign for the rest of the novel. A novel so astute and honest while its main character struggles to be, a novel that examines the truths and complexities of love and living in a way that forces its reader to reevaluate their approaches to life, and perhaps every experience with another person they've ever had. Kitten is a spellbinding story written by a wildly intelligent author whose observations and understanding of our relationships both with others and ourselves is a marvel to read. The moment you've finished this book, it will play on your mind for days (Ore Agbaje-Williams, author of The Three of US)
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