2 a.m. at the Cat's Pajamas

2 a.m. at the Cat’s Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino    261 pages

This is one of the times that two things went wrong. First I wanted to read this book based solely on its title. Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Second, I kept reading and reading, expecting/hoping that it would get better and end up being a wonderful read. Well, I was wrong on both counts.

According to the book jacket, this is the story of nine-year-old Madeleine who has a great jazz voice and knows it. She practices every day and desperately wants to sing at a jazz club, especially once she learns that her recently departed mother worked at the Cat’s Pajamas.  That I’m not really sure about because it was vaguely alluded to in the story.

The story is also about two other lost souls: Sarina Greene who hope to meet an old high school crush at a dinner party and Lorca, the Cat’s Pajama’s owner learns that if he can’t come with $30,000, the club will shut.

I found the story hard to follow.  All three---Madeleine, Sarina, and Lorca---vie for role as the central character. I was never really able to care about any of them, but I must admit felt more for Madeleine than the others, she’s the reason I kept on reading. I did like that the chapter headings were times and that the story takes place on Christmas Eve Eve. That was well done. The book also lacks tension.

 I give 2 a.m. at the Cat’s Pajamas 2 out of 5 stars.

 I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.