This novella is ninety pages of sheer delight, a well-told story with a tender twist. While Visiting Babette (Sagging Meniscus Press 2025) uses the technique of the unreliable narrator to spin a charming, endlessly clever, and at least slightly bizarre tale of two cousins, Ina and Babette. These two are more like close sisters, each being orphaned and raised primarily by Aunt Careen, a character who never appears directly but is nonetheless well developed. But be forewarned, for all its adroit charm (and it has tons), there is a poignant undertone.
The story starts with Ina visiting Babette in a facility. Though the place is never clearly identified as a mental institution, as readers move through the story they will come to that conclusion. It often appears to be more of a residential place for the chronically eccentric, but some of the hoots, hollers, and disturbances indicate it is a bit more than that. Ina, in her version of the tale, gets trapped in the place accidentally after visiting Babette. Since both she and Babette are there together, Ina appears to make the best of it. The two women encounter other residents, including Clara who writes stories she says are about Babette and Ina, and other seemingly harmless but confused residents.
The writing is excellent and brightly original. Even if one did not know author Kat Meads is also a poet, one might suspect that from the lyrical, lovely phrasing. For example, “She could not have abided having her bed in the middle of the room like Babette, a position she did not for a second doubt would generate a run of unmoored raft and gloating banshee dreams.” Also, “She could not be introduced to the gone.”
All in all, the novella is an appealing, beautiful, and wonderful read. The adventures of the two women—from making up their literary games in the library and envisioning escape—are as tenderhearted as they are captivating.
Kat Meads
Kat Meads, a native of North Carolina, is the author of more than twenty books of prose and poetry, including Dear DeeDee and These Particular Women. She has received writing fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Yaddo, and the California Arts Council. Her short plays have been staged in New York and Los Angeles.
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