Kat Jumps the Shark (Melinda Houston, Text)

Melinda Houston’s debut novel is a fun, heartfelt and deeply satisfying story about Kat Kelly, a 40-something Melburnian whose seemingly charmed life is turned upside down, and then the right way up again, in spectacular fashion. Kat’s career as a location scout for a television production company is her dream job, even if her work on a new series of Survivor is keeping her on her toes, while her home life with partner Miles and his young daughter Bonnie is everything she thought she wanted. But when Kat decides that what she wants from love and life is something entirely different, her break-up with Miles sets in motion a disastrous chain of events. Houston’s leading lady is incredibly likeable—think Nina Proudman from Offspring—and I was cheering Kat on within the first pages of this book. Her friends and workmates are equally well cast, especially Kat’s naive-yet-eager intern Heidi and barista-turned-confidant Wilson, and Melbourne’s inner suburbs of Fitzroy and Coburg provide the perfect locations for this moving drama about not losing faith. I relished my time in Kat’s world and I hope this is the first of many more clever and entertaining novels from Houston.

Eloise Keating is news editor of Books+Publishing

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

Category: Reviews