A retelling of Rebecca with cats? I was in.
Kara LaReau’s Licorice follows Kitty, a shelter cat who gets adopted by kind, gentle Max. It should be a dream come true. But once she arrives at her new home, Kitty finds herself living in the shadow of Max’s former cat, Licorice.
I loved how Kitty’s worries about fitting in and being good enough felt so familiar. There’s plenty here for middle grade readers to connect with—and plenty for the grown-ups reading along, too.
I’m happy to welcome Kara to From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors to talk about cats, anxiety, and being brave even when you’re scared.
Welcome, Kara! The book is a retelling of Rebecca. Tell me what led you to retell this story with cats.
The idea for this story came to me as most do — when my brain decides to pair up two separate thoughts. It was during the early days of the pandemic that a remake of Rebecca was streaming on Netflix, and it revived my love for Daphne du Maurier’s story. At the same time, my cat had sadly passed away a few months before, and my family was preparing to adopt two kittens. When we finally brought them home, I wondered if they could sense that other cats had lived in our house before them. My heightened sense of pattern recognition kicked in, and I started thinking about retelling Rebecca from a feline point of view.
Kitty begins the book in an animal shelter, where she meets Bunny van Hopper, who tells her she’ll only be adopted if she behaves in a certain way. For middle school kids, there’s so much pressure to “be” a certain way. The world has changed since Rebecca was published in 1938, but some things remain the same. Can you talk about why young readers need this book in 2026?
Lol I still feel pressure to “be” a certain way, sometimes!
While LICORICE certainly tips its hat to du Maurier and her fans, I wanted to make sure it’s first and foremost a classic animal story for middle grade readers. The animal characters are really serving as proxies for kid feelings — about loss, inadequacy, family, and belonging. These feelings are relatable at any age, and in every century.
Kitty is adopted by kind, gentle Max. What should be a dream becomes a nightmare when she gets to her new home and finds herself haunted by the “ghost” of his former cat, Licorice. I thought Kitty’s anxiety was so relatable. Can you share a moment when you felt overwhelmed by anxiety as a writer? How did you get through it?
I’ve just started my next novel, so I’m feeling some anxiety RIGHT NOW!
Anxiety has been a presence throughout my life — a haunting presence, you might even say. But I’ve learned to just acknowledge it and not react to it. Much like Kitty, I’ve found that you can feel scared and be brave at the same time.
Which cat are you? Kitty or Licorice?
I think I gave away that answer in my previous response! I’m definitely more like Kitty in a lot of ways. But I aspire to Licorice’s confidence and self-determination.
Spoiler alert! Our next question gets into the endings of both Licorice and Rebecca. If you haven’t read them yet, skip ahead to the last question.
I thought you handled Duchess’s demise perfectly at the end of the book. Did you always know she would meet a tragic end? Or did it surprise you?
Spoiler alert! Yes, Duchess meets an untimely end, and I had that moment in my head from the beginning. While Rebecca doesn’t outright state that Mrs. Danvers (Duchess’ counterpart) dies in the fire she sets at Manderley (another spoiler alert, ha ha), I believe that’s what happens, given what we know about her and her connection to Rebecca and the estate. Similarly, it made sense for Duchess to receive her own kind of poetic justice.
What advice would you give aspiring writers?
As Kitty and I have both learned, keep going, even when you’re scared. Moving forward, in writing and in life, is all about courage.
Thank you, Kara! “You can feel scared and be brave at the same time” is something I think a lot of us need to hear. I know I do.
What about you, readers? Do you have a favorite book told from an animal’s point of view? Let us know in the comments!
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Her ultimate dream was to run off and hide away in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but a close second was owning a bookshop. So opened a cozy little online and pop up bookshop called Hunni Hound Books.
She blogs about writing family and all that falls in between. She has also written articles and short stories for The Plaid Horse Magazine, Typishly, The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Root and Star Magazine, and The Newnan Time Herald. She has attended Big Sur Children's Writing Workshop and The Southhampton Literature Conference.
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