Book Description

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.

My Review 

This is a super low stakes slow burn romance, which is impressive considering one of the protagonists is hiding a Big Secret. And best of all, even when that secret is revealed, there’s a distinct lack of any maudlin third act breakup nonsense. 

On the surface, it might appear as though nothing of significance happens, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. This book is about several lost souls finding meaning in establishing (or re-establishing) relationships with each other. There is loads of meaning in every encounter and exchange, no matter how trivial they might appear on a superficial level. I assure you that this book is like a warm hug with lovely but flawed characters trying to navigate through a very confusing time in their lives for both personal and historical reasons. And despite all the turmoil and heartbreak, they find happiness with each other. 

But the best thing about this book is that despite *everything* going on in these people’s lives, they still find time to live in the moment and appreciate the small things in their lives like new records and preparing food. In addition, the supporting characters are delightful– they add a lot to the plot without stealing scenes (with the notable exception of the elderly bookstore owner); they are nice foils for the main characters to play off of. 

I would absolutely recommend After Hours at Dooryard Books. This is classic Cat Sebastian, and it was very interesting seeing the new era of the 1960s  after already experiencing Sebastian’s take on the Regency and the 1950s. What’s especially wild is how different a mere ~10-15 years is, even within New York City, but that’s the tumultuous mid-century for you. I loved everything about this book, and I can’t wait for the audiobook. 

I received a digital ARC of this book from the author