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What Remained of Katrina
After Hurricane Katrina destroys her city, an unlikely heroine turns to art and revenge to survive.... What Remained of Katrina is not about Botox. Implants. Designer wallpaper and expensive china. Or places where there are no storms. It's about a woman who knows her way around catastrophe. When her fourth husband tries to kill her during Hurricane Katrina and make it look like nature did the job, Katrina Miller performs the magic trick of a lifetime--and survives. Afterward, only her hand is found; everybody thinks she's dead. A failed magician's assistant, hotel maid, ice cream truck driver, and ex-prostitute in the Big Easy, Katrina, driving a used red Cadillac, comes barreling back to 'haunt' her abusive husband. Bent on revenge and scaring the bejesus out of her cruel, colorless ex, she remembers a past life as Vincent van Gogh. No one seems to care that art and hope are leaking from their water-washed city, maybe for good. So Katrina, who abandoned her art years ago, creates murals on flood-damaged homes of The Ninth Ward, trying to plug the leaks in her city and her heart. As she paints up a storm, she realizes she's not the only "ghost" in town... Honorable Mention Fiction, 2009 Leapfrog Press
250 pages, Paperback
First published June 30, 2011
20 people are currently reading
110 people want to read
About the author
Kelly Jameson
52 books37 followersKelly Jameson is the author of 24 books, including:
SPELLBOUND
(Hot Highlands Romance series, Book 1)
"An unforgettable highland warrior seeking revenge, an innocent maiden brave enough to confront him. Spellbound is a terrific novel filled with passion, intrigue, vengeance, and all-consuming love. Readers will clamor for a sequel." Kat Martin, New York Times best-selling author with over 13 million books in print
TO TAME A ROGUE
"Sizzling with sexual tension, filled with passion, an old-fashioned romance. Fast-paced and fun to read." Kat Martin, New York Times best-selling author
Other Novels by Kelly Jameson (Award-winning dark suspense, urban fiction, zombie parody, short stories)
DEAD ON
DEAD ON is "Brilliant. A chilling erotic suspense that will send shivers down your spine. A sensuous, gripping tale of murder through the ages."
--Kat Martin, New York Times Best-Selling Author
SHARDS OF SUMMER
SHARDS OF SUMMER is "The Great Gatsby for the beach generation." Ken Bruen, best-selling crime noir author (LONDON BOULEVARD, THE GUARDS, HEADSTONE)
WHAT REMAINED OF KATRINA: A NOVEL OF NEW ORLEANS
"WHAT REMAINED OF KATRINA becomes a powerful story of the city's underclass, the one seldom reported by the media, the one seldom visited by tourists. This is Jameson's third novel, and may be the best one yet." Walter Brasch, Journalist/Author, Before the First Snow: Stories From the Revolution
MOBY D*CKHEAD: OR THE WHITE ZOMBIE WHALE (A zombie MASHUP by Herman Melville and Kelly Jameson)
"There are books about sea life and whales. There are books about zombies.
But Kelly Jameson may be the first person to write a book about a zombie whale. MOBY D*CKHEAD OR THE WHITE ZOMBIE WHALE is an interesting parody of the most famous whale in literature. And, just like the original, this one is interesting and has many layers to peel through. It may be as terrifying as the original, but this one is a little more suggestive and a lot more fun."
--Walter Brasch, Before the First Snow: Stories from the Revolution
JerZey
"A wacky and hilarious slice of zombie goodness. Wicked and deranged, it's TIME BANDITS meets SHAUN OF THE DEAD with a big dose of just-plain-nuts. Highly recommended" --Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of DEAD OF NIGHT and PATIENT ZERO
Horrorphilia reviewer Gabino Iglesias says JerZey "...starts weird and finishes strong. The prose is packed with humor and there's an underlying message about what it means to be human that readers should discover by themselves. Pick up a copy today."
Some of her published short stories are collected in an anthology called DESPERATE, DISTURBED, DERANGED, AND DOUBLE-LATTED. She has also been published in Maxim Jakubowski's the Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica (vol 8 & 9), Sex in the City Paris, and the Mammoth Book of Erotic Romance and Domination.
"Jameson's prose is raw, cut-to-the-chase and knife-at-the-jugular. I especially like monkey stories, and she has a doozy of a monkey story in this collection. But that's not all. The collection is loaded with interesting characters who raise personal debasement and self-deprecation to an art form, and yet we smile all the way through it because the writing is so powerful. These people are flawed, and we get to see 'em at their worst. Caution: Leave one's inhibitions on the doorstep when reading these rich, flavorful offerings. Not for the faint of heart." C. G. Bauer, author
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 5, 2015
Having been burned by too many overpriced mainstream novels, I am constantly on the prowl for inexpensive but well-written independent or self-published ebooks. This past week I have read "What Remained of Katrina: a Novel of New Orleans" by Kelly Jameson. What most attracted me to this book was not its price, but its title (I will be traveling to New Orleans this fall) and the beautifully pensive face on its cover. What kept me reading was the unique voice of its unforgettable central character and narrator, Katrina Lalande.
The premise of the story is familiar enough. A woman who is believed dead returns to wreak some kind of vengeance on the husband who tried to kill her and succeeded in killing her lover. I know, you've read or see countless versions of this ancient set-up. But do not let this dissuade you from reading! It is not the plot points that are compelling here; the joys of this book are in the details. Just as Katrina Lalande fills the ruined walls and walkways of her damaged city with her wondrous murals, Jameson recreates the sights, sounds, and smells of post-Katrina New Orleans. And the climax of the story does not come with a revelatory twist so much as a heart-breaking focus on the events that we have already learned.
"What Remained of Katrina" is told in the rarely used second person point of view, which I confess took me a while to get used to, but ultimately it worked to emphasis Katrina's wounded soul and her struggle to unite her two selves, that other self being Vincent van Gogh. Yep, you read right! Katrina sees herself – possibly real, possibly not – as the reincarnation of that great Expressionist artist who cut off his ear and eventually ended his own life with a gunshot to the gut, an incident that the author suggest may not have been a suicide, after all. Katrina herself removes a part of her own body, but she ends up with an entirely different --- let's say -- perspective. We learn a lot about van Gogh, as well as Paul Gauguin, in this book, enough to want me to re-read van Gogh's glorious letters, but I mostly enjoy how these two troubled personas merged to produce a totally original and compelling writing style, combining poetic grace with slaggy, street jive elegance.
I was absolutely transfixed and transported by this great New Orleans novel. I place this on the top shelf of my virtual bookcase. It should appeal to a very wide audience. In a more perfect world, it would shoot to the top of the New York Times Bestseller list. And it is shocking to me that the mainstream publishers have not scooped this up.
Goodreads readers, don't make the same mistake!
The premise of the story is familiar enough. A woman who is believed dead returns to wreak some kind of vengeance on the husband who tried to kill her and succeeded in killing her lover. I know, you've read or see countless versions of this ancient set-up. But do not let this dissuade you from reading! It is not the plot points that are compelling here; the joys of this book are in the details. Just as Katrina Lalande fills the ruined walls and walkways of her damaged city with her wondrous murals, Jameson recreates the sights, sounds, and smells of post-Katrina New Orleans. And the climax of the story does not come with a revelatory twist so much as a heart-breaking focus on the events that we have already learned.
"What Remained of Katrina" is told in the rarely used second person point of view, which I confess took me a while to get used to, but ultimately it worked to emphasis Katrina's wounded soul and her struggle to unite her two selves, that other self being Vincent van Gogh. Yep, you read right! Katrina sees herself – possibly real, possibly not – as the reincarnation of that great Expressionist artist who cut off his ear and eventually ended his own life with a gunshot to the gut, an incident that the author suggest may not have been a suicide, after all. Katrina herself removes a part of her own body, but she ends up with an entirely different --- let's say -- perspective. We learn a lot about van Gogh, as well as Paul Gauguin, in this book, enough to want me to re-read van Gogh's glorious letters, but I mostly enjoy how these two troubled personas merged to produce a totally original and compelling writing style, combining poetic grace with slaggy, street jive elegance.
I was absolutely transfixed and transported by this great New Orleans novel. I place this on the top shelf of my virtual bookcase. It should appeal to a very wide audience. In a more perfect world, it would shoot to the top of the New York Times Bestseller list. And it is shocking to me that the mainstream publishers have not scooped this up.
Goodreads readers, don't make the same mistake!
October 14, 2012
I won this book in a First Reads Giveaway.
This book is amazing, absolutely amazing. I fucking love it and recommend it to everyone. It doesn't matter that I think reincarnation is bullshit. I was hooked by page 6 when Katrina herself brings up how everyone only remember past lives of famous people. Writing in the second person perspective was unexpected, bold, daring and holy shit, did it work like a charm here. Katrina, this Katrina, might not have worked in any other perspective. She's judgmental, crass, vile artist bitch, who may be off her rocker but putting her in "you" is brilliant. I really felt and understood Katrina, like I was her, or like me when I was her in a past life. I loved it. I didn't want to stop reading. I didn't see the end coming at all. Just enjoying the read so much, laughing several times, cringing, swearing, painful and getting teary eyed. Then end came before I knew it and I started crying. I hardly every cry from books but this one hit me hard where it hurts. It got to me, became a part of me and I was crying for Katrina, for us all.
This is so beautifully written too. Not in the classical sense of fair weather, people who look like Greek god and landscapes out of a picture book. No, no. This is realistic, true to form, nitty gritty every day after shit hits the fan beauty. My book copy is littered with sticky notes and highlights for wonderful turns of phrases, moments, and information. There's moments of heart wrenching pain, disgusting, haunting, terrible moments that show the worst of humanity. It's emotional, irrational, magical and inspiring. Katrina is an artist and Kelly Jameson did her justice by sticking to the truth no one wants to know and painting it as a true artist would.
This isn't the Mardi Gras, Bourbon Street everyone loves New Orleans. This is the reality of everyday, living flat fucking broke in the Ninth Ward after Katrina New Orleans. Something people don't want to see, don't want to think about what goes on around one of their favorite fun towns when the party is over. Like the slums around Las Vegas tourist spots, where all the poor, disillusioned service people live to make the magic of Las Vegas work.
If you can't take the giant stick out of your ass regarding the swearing, the sex and the general shittiness of how it is being poor, then I feel sorry for you. The only reason someone wouldn't be able to become Katrina isn't because of the author, or the writing. It's because they can't let themselves go and become someone else. Someone so different, who's life and reality is so different from the reader. I find that terribly sad because those people are going to miss out on an amazing experience with this book.
Notes & Quotes? Far, far too many to list and really aren't as great, as impacting when pulled out of context. However, here's a few.
This book is amazing, absolutely amazing. I fucking love it and recommend it to everyone. It doesn't matter that I think reincarnation is bullshit. I was hooked by page 6 when Katrina herself brings up how everyone only remember past lives of famous people. Writing in the second person perspective was unexpected, bold, daring and holy shit, did it work like a charm here. Katrina, this Katrina, might not have worked in any other perspective. She's judgmental, crass, vile artist bitch, who may be off her rocker but putting her in "you" is brilliant. I really felt and understood Katrina, like I was her, or like me when I was her in a past life. I loved it. I didn't want to stop reading. I didn't see the end coming at all. Just enjoying the read so much, laughing several times, cringing, swearing, painful and getting teary eyed. Then end came before I knew it and I started crying. I hardly every cry from books but this one hit me hard where it hurts. It got to me, became a part of me and I was crying for Katrina, for us all.
This is so beautifully written too. Not in the classical sense of fair weather, people who look like Greek god and landscapes out of a picture book. No, no. This is realistic, true to form, nitty gritty every day after shit hits the fan beauty. My book copy is littered with sticky notes and highlights for wonderful turns of phrases, moments, and information. There's moments of heart wrenching pain, disgusting, haunting, terrible moments that show the worst of humanity. It's emotional, irrational, magical and inspiring. Katrina is an artist and Kelly Jameson did her justice by sticking to the truth no one wants to know and painting it as a true artist would.
This isn't the Mardi Gras, Bourbon Street everyone loves New Orleans. This is the reality of everyday, living flat fucking broke in the Ninth Ward after Katrina New Orleans. Something people don't want to see, don't want to think about what goes on around one of their favorite fun towns when the party is over. Like the slums around Las Vegas tourist spots, where all the poor, disillusioned service people live to make the magic of Las Vegas work.
If you can't take the giant stick out of your ass regarding the swearing, the sex and the general shittiness of how it is being poor, then I feel sorry for you. The only reason someone wouldn't be able to become Katrina isn't because of the author, or the writing. It's because they can't let themselves go and become someone else. Someone so different, who's life and reality is so different from the reader. I find that terribly sad because those people are going to miss out on an amazing experience with this book.
Notes & Quotes? Far, far too many to list and really aren't as great, as impacting when pulled out of context. However, here's a few.
June 19, 2015
Katrina believes she is the reincarnation of Van Gogh, best known (after his art, particularly Starry Night) for cutting off his ear and giving it to the unrequited love of his life. The story is laced with mythology but certain themes are repeated and cannot be ignored: Hands, for instance. Katrina lost her hand during Hurricane Katrina, the hurricane, of course, being a major theme. She admires the Hindu Goddess Lakshmi with her four arms and hands, She incorporates a tree into her mural that has four branches. And she mentions how Van Gogh deliberately burned his hand on a candle in order to see his Kee, his unrequited love. To me, the main theme is body parts cut off, representing the artist slicing, giving away, pieces of self until nothing is left except the gun or the rope or the rocks in the pocket to sink oneself under the water of the local river of despair. What has remained is the question: Hope? Art? Different shades of Van Gogh yellow? A woman’s face painted and found via modern x-ray under Van Gogh’s green grass? All of these are intricately woven with the artist—(visual, musical or writer) as painter, mixing metaphors like paint, demonstrating the themes like different colors on a canvas. A wonderful story of wish-I’d-said-that words and ideas.
January 29, 2014
I didn't love that it was written in second person and I didn't care for the fact that she repeatedly used the "van gogh, or me when I was van gogh" but the story actually had some depth and a strong message if you looked beyond the surface. I'm actually surprised to say, I liked it.
June 1, 2015
Intense, descriptive, great read
As a long time admirer of New Orleans, I wondered what it was like in the ninth ward after Katrina hit. This book tells it from the human point of view with a story that is hard to put down.
As a long time admirer of New Orleans, I wondered what it was like in the ninth ward after Katrina hit. This book tells it from the human point of view with a story that is hard to put down.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews