They All Fall in Love at the End
They All Fall in Love at the End ~ Haili Blassingame
Catherine “Cat” St. Clair is a 20 something graduate student, living with her parents in Washington DC, and hoping to finish her MFA within 10 years. She takes one class a semester because that’s all she can afford with her scholarship and money from her part time job at a sausage restaurant. Cat is working on a semi-autobiographical novel about her parents’ shitty marriage and her life thus far. She has a boyfriend, Jay, who is a school teacher in California. Cat wants an open relationship, she feels trapped by monogamy. She feels like Jay (Not Jay per se, just society in general, the idea of being in a one on one relationship) wants to own her, trap her, keep her from being who she really is. And who she really is is a young polyamorous black woman working a dead-end job and striving towards a different future.
Jay is against opening their relationship, they’ve been together for 6 years and he is committed. But he loves Cat and is afraid to lose her. On a visit to DC, Jay introduces Cat to his best friend, Tristan, who is working toward his PhD in Philosophy. Cat and Tristan are immediately attracted to one another, though Tristan is in a monogamous relationship with an artist, Nia.
Cat is so determined to live life on her own terms, she is in danger of blowing it up and hurting everyone she cares about. Is there a way for her to live the life she feels is truly HER, and still keep her relationships with those she loves? Will she ever publish her novel?
They All Fall in Love at the End takes place amid the chaos of DC (mostly) after the election of T*ump (the spelling in the book) in 2024. There is the chaos of students being deported, the war in Gaza, DOGE firing Federal employees, Universities being pressured by the government, Universities caving, Universities not caving. It is very much a book of right now, of the stress and anxiety that so many are feeling about the world surrounding us.
I loved this book, which I would call Literary Fiction more than Romance. Literary Romance perhaps? I listened to the audiobook, then went back and listened to it again. Highly recommended, with a warning that the sex scenes (one especially so) are pretty spicy, though they’re not overly long.
Hey look, the NYT reviewed this today too! Gift article if you’re interested.
6 Comments
PocoBrat
J, I thought this was the book you DNF-ed, but as I was reading the summary, all the details you mentioned were pretty appealing. What a relief to realize you DID like this book! GOing on my list, thanks for the rec! XOXO
(It’s messed up how badly things are going financially for so many young people.)
J
No, the DNF was the western. This book I loved! I’m glad you came by, because I think you would really love this one!
NGS
*sigh* I just want a lighthearted romance without all this talk of open relationships. I don’t want my romance to have current events and stress and politics. I think I’m going to sit this one out.
J
These characters are really affected by the stress of current events. Likely a good book to skip for you if you don’t want to deal with that.
Margaret
It sounds like a very topical book for today. I know a couple people in polyamorous relationships; they seem to thrive in them although they wouldn’t be for me.
J
They wouldn’t be for me either, but I was really interested in getting this peek into the mindset behind it.