This epistolary novel of books, cuisines, and hopes is a charming homage to friendship and correspondence. But Kate & Frida also envelops the protagonists' wider world as they support each other through confrontations with loss.
Fans of Kim Fay's 2022 novel, Love & Saffron, will delight in another story told through letters. That book was set in 1960s Seattle, Wash., and Los Angeles, Calif., while Kate and Frida write from Seattle and Paris, France, in the early 1990s. A heartwarming link between the two novels enhances the reading experience, but each stands satisfyingly on its own.
Frida Rodriguez, a 20-something Californian in Paris hoping to become a "War Journo Dame," writes to Seattle's Puget Sound Book Company to order a book by 20th-century war correspondent Martha Gellhorn. Aspiring novelist and bookseller Kate Fair adds a note to the package, beginning a regular correspondence that becomes a deep friendship. In detailed letters, adventurous Frida and appreciative Kate--both writers at heart--encourage each other to pursue their dreams and discuss plenty of books. They also share a love of food, like Kate's snickerdoodles and Frida's pursuit of buttery French cheeses. When Frida goes to Sarajevo during the 1992 breakup of Yugoslavia seeking a story to report, her letters of the fighting and destruction inspire Kate to send children's books for the civilians. Meanwhile, Frida consoles Kate as her beloved grandfather's health declines. In letters that read like transcripts of conversations, Kate and Frida cement a friendship based on their shared philosophy: "It's the words that will last." --Cheryl McKeon, Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, N.Y.