After Hours at Dooryard Books

After Hours at Dooryard Books (2025) Cat Sebastian

Set in NYC in 1968

Patrick has worked for Dooryard Books since Mrs. Kaplan picked him up and gave him a place when he was seventeen. He may have reconnected with his brother and best friend, Susan, after being kicked out by their aunt and uncle, but Dooryard is his home.

Nathaniel is another stray brought to the story by Mrs. Kaplan, but unlike others she has taken in, he seems sober and doesn’t seem to have been homeless for long–if at all.

Nathaniel is a mess, afraid to go outside, and won’t share any details about himself, although there are bits and pieces that come through.

“We’re simplifying equations,” Iris says.

“Hardly. Who told you to do it that way?”

“The teacher?”

Nathaniel takes Hector’s notebook and scowls at it. “Your teacher needs to be brought before a tribunal.”

“No tambourines.” Nathaniel has nothing against tambourines in other people’s music, but he needs to draw a line. He’ll associate freely with long-haired radicals, but the tambourine is a line he won’t cross.

Then Susan walks through the door of the store and everything is upended.

I swear, Cat Sebastian gets better with every book she writes.

“I realize this is wildly hypocritical of me,” Nathaniel says. “But even though I’m very much against emotions when they happen to me, I think it’s possible that refusing to feel anything at all fucks you up fairly comprehensively in the long run.”

Trigger warnings: homophobia, death of a family member, Vietnam war.

Characters: Nathaniel Smith, Patrick Fitzgerald, Eleanor Fitzgerald, Susan Larkin, Michael Fitzgerald, Mrs. Maria Valdez, Mr. Valdez, Iris Valdez, Hector Valdez, Vivian, Jerome, Mrs. Kaplan

Cover by Kelsey Bowman

Rating: 9/10

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