Kate & Frida by Kim Fay
Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication date: March 11, 2025
Genres: Book Clubs, Fiction, Coming-of-age, Historical
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It begins with a letter sent from Paris to Seattle. Nothing romantic or between friends, but business because in 1991 that’s how these things were done. Frida writes to the Puget Sound Book Store looking for a book. Kate is the employee delegated with filling this customer request. Neither could know that this brief correspondence would grow into an intense and wonderful friendship. It’s author Kim Fay who takes two 20-something women and turns them into reading that is spirited and rewarding in her novel Kate & Frida.
Frida exudes bravado. She wants to be a war correspondent and so moves from L.A. to Paris in the hopes of getting hired by a news organization to cover the war in Bosnia. Kate’s courage is as real to her as Frida’s, but on a smaller scale. Raised in rural Washington she’s decamped to Seattle after college with the dream of becoming a writer. To that end she works at the bookstore. Her eagerness to help leads to her going beyond Frida’s initial request and recommending additional books. Before long, the two are exchanging letters about their lives, along with the always welcome topics of food and books. Every reply reveals a bit more about the other as they open up to this new friend they’ve found.
In the same way, Fay thoughtfully brings each woman to life within her own story. Frida is the larger personality, able to travel around the world and so sure of herself she believes she can go to Sarajevo as a first-time reporter to witness and cover a war she knows nothing about. The Bosnian War is the very real event at the center of Kate & Frida. Fay covers it in heartrending detail, making it a vital part of the narrative for both women while also reminding them (and us) how little concern there was about it at the time. For the quiet Kate, leaving behind the security of family, especially her beloved grandfather, living in a big city, and working at an iconic book store among co-workers who read literature, is as big a leap of faith. A friendship of opposites grows and only deepens when each fall short of the dreams they’ve harbored and have to face the losses and disappointment that come with life.
Against the seriousness of world events the novel is grounded in the smaller touchpoints familiar to any young women who grew up in the 1970s and early 80s. Ubiquitous items like Bonne Bell Lip Smackers and L’eggs pantyhose are just two of the cultural references that made me smile. The same is true for certain aspects of the times when the novel takes place. These were the last days before technology exploded. Email had yet to appear, international phone calls were exorbitant, and cable news was in its infancy. For most of us, news was available twice a day. Period. In the novel, one of the characters wakes up to see the test pattern on her TV—a term unfamiliar to many because you can watch TV 24 hours a day now. It stopped me in my reading because I’d forgotten that after a certain point at night there was no more news to be had. There was time to process what was happening while staying grounded in your own life. Technology has brought many positives to our lives, but I’m not embarrassed to say I miss those days. I’m not sure anyone needs to be this informed.
In this way, Kate & Frida evokes a wide range of emotions. For me, the most prevalent was wistfulness. I was saturated with a feeling of bittersweet nostalgia by being transported back into the timelessness of life in your 20s. When there were so many things to strive for, but not always having the plans or the means to reach them. Navigating adult relationships and the wanting more of everything—love, success, connection. Fay lets Kate and Frida flourish on the page with the all the youthful disdain for the status quo, the outsize heartbreak of romance as well as the all-consuming grief that comes with life’s tragedies. They become each other’s sounding board, their letters comforting ballast in turbulent times. I had the same feeling about Kate & Frida. Fay encompasses the depth and breadth of female friendships in a way that is deeply comforting; the quiet, heartfelt respite we all need.
Kate & Frida is the sequel to Love & Saffron, a novel I adored. I’m thrilled to learn they’re a trilogy and there’s one more book to come!
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*I received a free copy of this book from G.P. Putnam’s Sons in exchange for an honest review.*
Wonderful review! I loved both books too and am so happy to learn that there will be a third book in the series.
Plus, I got to meet her! She is so warm and funny. Kate & Frida is a bit autobiographical- she worked at a Seattle bookstore after college and said she’s a bit like Kate. Her sister is Frida. It was so wonderful to meet her.