Review: After Hours at Dooryard Books by Cat Sebastian
1968 New York City
News about the war might be keeping Patrick up at night–news in general might be keeping Patrick up at night–but he’s doing fine. He’s sure of it. He gets to spend his days selling books in the gayest neighborhood on the East Coast and his nights merrily sleeping his way through the rare book community. But when he takes in a drifter who seems to be hiding something, and his best friend and her newborn move into the apartment upstairs, his life gets turned on its head.
A sleepy little bookstore should be the perfect place for Nathaniel to lie low, waiting for his past to catch up with him, but it turns out Dooryard Books is full of political radicals and anti-war agitators. If the FBI isn’t actively surveilling this place, it will be. Nathaniel should go anywhere else. The last thing he expects is to like these subversives. There’s a grieving folk musician and her baby–a demon of a child who will only sleep if Nathaniel, of all people, holds her. There’s a pair of rabble-rousing teenagers who, upsettingly, seem to be right about everything. And then there’s Patrick, who can’t walk past anyone who needs his help–and who is perplexingly determined to help Nathaniel.
As the world balances on the precipice of something new and scary and maybe even hopeful, Patrick needs to decide what he’s willing to risk for this chaotic new community he’s accidentally created. And Nathaniel needs to figure out whether he has a place in this messy, flawed world–and whether he can believe he deserves it.
TW : GRIEF FROM OFF PAGE DEATHS OF CHILD AND A SIBLING
Dear Cat Sebastian,
I said in the past that I really enjoy your books set in the twentieth century and this book for the most part was no exception. Once again we get to see the delicate building of a relationship amongst a fragile world. I am going to speculate that parallels to what is happening in the US nowadays were intentional and I for the most part really liked how it was done in the story. The building of the friendship and then love between Patrick and Nathaniel were really well done.
He heads directly to Patrick, because Patrick is… soothing, Nathaniel supposes. He’d be useless up against any actual threat—if someone tried to mug him, he’d buy the mugger a sandwich and give him the coat off his back—but against more existential threats, he’s practically a magic amulet. He’s good in a way that Nathaniel finds incomprehensible and which he’s certain he doesn’t deserve any part of.
I thought Nathaniel was a wonderful character, really well developed. Patrick was really, really decent guy and I just wonder what it shows about my cynical state of mind that I at times had trouble believing in his authenticity? I wanted to though, I really did.
I also really loved the friendship that developed between Nathaniel and Susan and actually was really happy that Susan and her little daughter Eleanor were a part of the story. This is not a trigger warning of course, but if you dislike babies being part of the story this one is probably not for you. I thought Eleanor being there, besides adding her being funny and overall adorable, just really added to the character building of the main characters.
Grief and dealing with it is also features very prominently in the book. A character very close to both Patrick and Eleanor dies off page in Vietnam right before the story begins and this is the reason why Susan comes to New York to the book store that Patrick manages and basically stays probably forever. I thought the ‘dealing with the grief’ storyline was very well done, very gentle, very believable to me.
As always in this writer’s twentieth century historical romances (I am not talking about mysteries) there is not much happening on page plot wise, there was mostly characters interaction but honestly to me at least in her works it was plenty. These people are going through serious personal upheavals because of what was happening in the larger world or for the personal reasons, so I am not even sure it is accurate to say that not much was happening. I also found the humor in this book was very much my cup of tea and it felt very much appropriate even when mixed with heavier themes.
“You can have your chair back after you’ve gone to the laundromat,” Nathaniel says. He has his feet up on Patrick’s desk, Eleanor asleep on his chest, ‘Leaves of Grass’ open in one hand. “I had to wear my least favorite one of your shirts.” He’s wearing a pair of worn-out jeans and a plaid flannel shirt. “I don’t look reputable at all,” he complains.
“What a princess,” Patrick mutters, and Nathaniel looks up at him, his expression torn between amusement and outrage. “Want to come with me? Susan will watch Eleanor and the shop if I do her laundry.”
“Of course I don’t want to,” Nathaniel says. “But I should.”
“That’s not what I said.”
“That doesn’t stop it from being true. I want to find out where the limits are.”
“The limits of what?”
Nathaniel sighs. “My sanity, I suppose.”
Patrick gathers all the laundry in a couple of pillowcases and makes Nathaniel carry one of them around the corner to the laundromat.
I always enjoy a found family theme in books and this one certainly featured it. Well, Patrick and Susan were already a family, but Nathaniel and some book store regulars became a welcome addition to it.
Grade: B+/A-
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I look forward to reading this so am skipping your review for now, Sirius. I’m happy to see that you recommend it!
I enjoyed this one as well, although my grade was a little lower at a solid B.
It’s not my favorite Cat Sebastian but meh Cat Sebastian is still pretty dang good.
@Kareni: Hope it works for you too! @cleo: I overall prefer her twentieth century books to her 19 century ones .
@Sirius: yes, I also prefer her 20th C books.
I’m curious how I’ll like her contemporary coming out next year.
@cleo: Yep, me too. I preordered already.
I’ve been meaning to pick this one up. Thx for the reminder!
I just read this one over the holidays and really enjoyed it. Thanks for a great review!
@Maria Rose: I am so glad the book worked for you. It made my Best of the year list :).