Whatever the reason, reading about people whose lives are a mess can be fascinating. And if you look in the dictionary next to the word "mess," you might find Elsa, the protagonist of Liska Jacobs' debut novel, Catalina. She's just been laid off from her dream job as personal and executive assistant to one the curators of New York's Museum of Modern Art after a torrid affair with her married boss, and she's trying to figure out her next move.
She heads home to Bakersfield, California, with designs on blowing through her "very generous" severance package. After a few days' visiting her mother, she leaves with most of her mother's prescription drugs, and retreats to a fancy hotel in Santa Monica, where she spends her days and nights in a drug-addled, alcohol-soaked haze, flirting (and more) with random men she meets, and leaving even teenage boys bewitched. But as high as she gets, it can't really numb the pain from losing her lover and her job.
As much as the she dreads the thought, she decides to reunite with her college friends, whom she hasn't seen since she fled for the East Coast more than five years before—her ex-husband Robby, who still pines for her and wonders where they went wrong, her childhood friend Charlotte ("Charly"), and Charly's flirtatious, overgrown frat boy husband, status-conscious Jared.
"I can almost feel my old self, that girl who loved art—museums especially—who dreamed of a career far from here. Poor girl, joke's on you. You're back. Your old life just waiting for you, like a second skin."
Elsa convinces her friends that she's on a much-needed vacation from the craziness of MoMA, and they mostly believe her, despite a smile that doesn't quite meet her eyes, manic mood swings, and overindulgence in both alcohol and random pills. The group plans to embark on a sailing trip to Catalina Island, along with Robby's super-outdoorsy, over-achieving girlfriend Jane, and Tom, a wealthy, arrogant client of Jared and Robby's, who owns the boat they will travel on. It's a perfect opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the island along with copious amounts of liquor and pills (at least as far as Elsa is concerned), and perhaps rekindle some of the fun they used to have.
It's not long before Elsa realizes her friends are having troubles of their own. Charly and Jared are struggling with fertility issues and Jared's mercurial moods, alternating between attentive and overly flirtatious, which puts Charly even more on edge. Charly longs to rekindle her friendship with Elsa but notices that Elsa doesn't quite seem to care about any of them, as much as Charly hopes that's not true. Robby, despite being happy with Jane, misses the Elsa he used to know, and wants her back, not this sharp-edged, high-strung addict she has become.
Fueled by a lack of inhibition and depression over the shambles of her life, Elsa blunders from one bad situation into another, leaving her perplexed and concerned friends in her wake, until she starts to stir up trouble among the group. The false joviality and sense of nostalgia gives way to rehashing old hurts and frustrations, not to mention new ones, as Elsa is only interested in self-gratification, and she doesn't even know what will make her happy anymore.
Despite the somewhat depressing nature of Elsa's downward spiral, Catalina is immensely readable. I devoured the book in about a day, and although I wondered exactly when (and if) Elsa would hit rock bottom, and what (and/or whom) she'd take with her, I couldn't look away. You can't believe one person could make such a mess of things, and you wonder whether she'll realize she's only making things worse, but her path of self-destruction is fascinating, even while it's pathetic.
Even though Elsa's story is familiar, Jacobs' does a terrific job drawing you in, hooking you on these characters that aren't particularly likable, who can't seem to say the things they want to. At times she shifts the narrative into flashback mode, or in her stupor Elsa imagines certain things happening, so I got a little confused occasionally. But Jacobs' has created a soapy, messy story to get lost in, and her use of language in describing the beauty of Catalina borders on poetic.
Beach season may be over for part of the world, but it's never too late for a beach read! I enjoyed this a lot, and can't wait to see what comes next in Jacobs' career.
NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!
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