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Summary of We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian
Picture it: New York City, 1950: Nick Russo, a journalist, moves to New York City at age 18 to start a life where he can be himself – a gay man – without his traditional Italian American family finding out. The 1950s were an era in America when being gay was associated with being communist, and being outed was a death knell for a man’s reputation. Still, Nick won’t pretend he likes women, and is fine with being a “confirmed bachelor” for the rest of his life. As long as his family doesn’t find out why, that is.
Everything changes on the day Andy comes to work at Nick’s office. Andy is the heir apparent to the newspaper that employs Nick Russo. They first meet when Andy somehow gets his tie stuck in an old filing cabinet. They become very good friends – Andy is the Sunshine to Nick’s Grumpy.
When Andy meets and falls in love with Nick’s best work friend, Emily, Nick is thrilled that his two best friends – who both accept him as he is – will be married and he will still be welcome in both of their lives without having to pretend to be something he isn’t.
Things change when Emily falls in love with a cardiologist and breaks the engagement. Nick insists that Andy come stay at his place for a few days while he clears his head and grieves his engagement. Slowly, Nick and Andy begin to develop feelings much deeper than friendship. I won’t give away the ending, but this is a romance novel, and you can expect a happy one.
If You Liked Lessons in Chemistry, You’ll Like We Could Be So Good
We Could be so Good is to LGBTQ rights what Lessons in Chemistry was to Womans rights – a novel looking at the past through the lens of today – looking at lives that would be perfectly normal and open had they occurred 60 years later. It’s an effective literary technique and I’m glad these books are so popular. Reading can transport the reader through space and time to live in another man’s (or woman’s) shoes. I believe that’s good for everyone.
Queer History in We Could Be So Good
This book is set about a decade before the Stonewall Riots happened in 1969. Mentioned in the book are Bayard Rustin, a Quaker, a Communist and an important figure in the civil rights movement. Rustin publicly joined the Communist party because it was the only party that accepted him as equal, being a gay Black man.
At one point in the story, Andy goes through the local newspapers and picks up the issue of the Village Voice that ran the famous column, Revolt of the Homosexual, on March 18, 1959. You can read the entire article here.
“For years homosexuals in this country have cringed behind a mask of fear. Legally they’re criminals, morally they’re considered perverted, psychologically they’ve tortured themselves. Courageous gay people are now beginning to realize that they are human beings who must fight to gain acceptance for what they are—not what others want them to be.”
Anonymous Gay Male, as told to Seymour Krim, Village Voice, 1959.
These writings fuel a conviction in Andy, and he vows to use his newspaper to expose the way gay men were treated in New York in 1959.
In the acknowledgements, Sebastian recalls that she wanted to write a novel in which gay characters reacted to and were changed by the activism of the time. How might Rustin’s unwavering advocacy for himself or Krim’s “Revolt of the Homosexual” have emboldened some to speak up and advocate for themselves? Cue Nick and Andy – a reporter and future head of a New York newspaper, falling in love while these events take place.
We know that it took another 63 years for same-sex marriage to be recognized by the courts – no federal law was passed until 2022 to codify same-sex marriage, and even then, that law - The Respect for Marriage Act – took 8 full years to be codified after the Supreme Court ruled that these marriages were a constitutional right. Society has come a long way, but it has come kicking and screaming and delaying equality for queer people at every turn.
I gave We Could Be So Good four out of five stars. I listened to the book on Audible, but it is one of those books that would be great in print or audiobook form. This would be a good book to read if you have a reading challenge that requires you to read a book with LGBTQ plot and characters. Love is love, and a great love story is a great love story.
There is more of Nick and Andy’s world coming! Sebastian told Pop Sugar that the next novel in the series will involve a sports reporter falling in love with a member of New York’s new expansion team – I’m assuming this will be a fictional team based on the Mets.
Ten Printable Book Club Questions for We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian
These questions can be printed by pressing the PRINT button below. They are provided FREE from http://www.breezyafternoons.com. Enjoy!
- 1. This story takes place in the 1950s. Andy and Emily are planning to marry because they seem to believe that’s the way life is supposed to work. What else might be different in their lives if they took the path they wanted instead of what was expected of them?
- 2. Andy has a lot of traumas surrounding his upbringing and his mother’s death. What is it about Nick that draws Andy to him so strongly?
- 3.Nick doesn’t like reading queer books because he believes they’re always tragedies. Do you avoid certain types of books for a similar reason?
- 4. Describe Nick’s reaction to Andy bringing him the flowers and why you think he reacted that way.
- 5. Have you read any other LGBTQ focused romance novels? Which ones do you recommend?
- 6. Nick carries a lot of fear and resentment towards the police and his brother. Is this a “Which came first: the chicken or the egg” scenario? Why?
- 7. There is no attempt by the author to show change among the elder generation of Italian immigrants in regards to acceptance of LGBTQ people. It’s a hard line that they’ll never accept this. Yet, Andy’s dad – a WASP-y rich guy, is openly accepting of Andy and Nick’s relationship. Why do you think Andy’s dad is shown to be “softer” on this subject than Nick’s mother and Aunts.
- 8. Nick’s mother gives Andy the minestrone soup recipe, yelling that this is why they need a nice girl to settle down with. Do you think she knows that Andy and Nick are in love?
- 9. Which of the characters in Nick’s building did you want to learn more about? Which did you identify with the most?
- 10. Nick keeps a guest room for his nephew, Sal. Why does he seem to have a soft spot for Sal?
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