TL; W[on’t]R[ead the Review]: Ugh, this book is so sweet!! 2 parts Our Flag Means Death, 1 part academic nostalgia, and 7 parts gay joy, this book is all heart.
Content warnings: homophobia (off page); family disinheritance due to coming out
Summary [courtesy of Goodreads]: “Massachusetts, 1959: Some people might accuse mathematician Everett Sloane of being stuffy, but really he just prefers things a certain way: predictable, quiet, and far away from Tommy Cabot—his former best friend, chaos incarnate, and the man who broke his heart. The youngest son of a prominent political family, Tommy threw away his future by coming out to his powerful brothers. When he runs into Everett, who fifteen years ago walked away from Tommy without an explanation or a backward glance, his old friend’s chilliness is just another reminder of what a thoroughgoing mess Tommy has made of his life. When Everett realizes that his polite formality is hurting Tommy, he needs to decide whether he can unbend enough to let Tommy get close but without letting himself get hurt the way he was all those years ago.“
I found this novella through the top-tier romance anthology He’s Come Undone, which also features Adriana Herrera, Ruby Lang, Olivia Dade, and Emma Barry. I cheated a bit and read this a little in advance of Beautifully Bookish Bethany’s Queer Romance Readathon, but hey, it’s Pride month, so I’m still counting it (because I’m an adult and I can do what I want). I also remembered that the local indie bookstore I work for had a physical copy that’d been sitting around for almost a year, and once I finished reading I knew I HAD to own that hard copy (and the hard copy of its sibling-book, Peter Cabot Gets Lost–stay tuned for a review of that soon).
But back to the book!! I will admit, I was super skeptical I’d finish–much less love–this book, since it’s a period romance of sorts set in the 1950s. Basically, I HATE historical fiction of all stripes, as a rule (a big shout out to my PhD in Victorian fiction, ADHD, and general academic trauma for that particular antipathy). But I was willing to give this a shot because it’s so short, and…I was immediately hooked. Cat Sebastian’s writing is unobtrusive and immersive, at least until she hits you with the perfect philosophical truism or emotionally resonant exchange. (I was particularly taken with the following, which perhaps says more about me and my age than the book: “He tried not to think about what his fifteen-year-old self would have made of it; that person wasn’t here anymore.”)
These characters are SO KIND, even the monied golden boy, now all grown up and [minor spoilers] on the outs with his family due to coming out. I was expecting some grumpiness, or some assholey behavior, as per the usual romance novel playbook, but there was basically NONE of that here. The conflict was over so fast, and yet we got to the rekindling relationship organically and in a way that didn’t feel rushed. If you’ve read my reviews before, you’ll know that I DESPISE conflict, so this novella quickly shot to the top of my favorites. As for the ending…
SPOILER TERRITORY
The fact that Tommy’s soon-to-be-ex-wife is ALSO queer, and is in a relationship with an out, butch lesbian, was the reveal I didn’t know I wanted. It was like if, in Our Flag Means Death, [minor spoilers] Stede’s wife Mary got with one of her fellow widows (which I was rooting for SO HARD), instead of that weird art dude. Oh well. At least I got it here.
Basically, Sebastian has written a queer-normative bubble into what is an otherwise homophobic world, and it’s exquisite. I can’t wait to re-read it, but in the meantime I’m off to read the companion novella. I NEVER thought I’d say this, but bring on the monied golden boys*!!
*(so long as they’re queer, kind, and self-aware; aka so long as they’re deeply, DEEPLY fictional)
