They're Going to Love You

A Novel

By: Meg Howrey

Narrated by: Meg Howrey

Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

A NEW YORK TIMES EDITOR'S CHOICE • A BELLETRIST BOOK CLUB PICK • A gripping novel set in the world of professional ballet, New York City during the AIDS crisis, and present-day Los Angeles. • "Beautiful...Howrey, a former dancer with the Joffrey Ballet, proves herself a talented choreographer in her own right...[A] finger-trap puzzle of a plot."—New York Times Book Review

“They’re Going to Love You is my idea of a perfect book. It is about art, life, death, love, and family and it is beautifully and sharply written. I cried several times while reading it, and was sorry to let it go when I was done. I cannot recommend it enough.”—Jami Attenberg, New York Times bestselling author of The Middlesteins and All This Could Be Yours

Throughout her childhood, Carlisle Martin got to see her father, Robert, for only a few precious weeks a year when she visited the brownstone apartment in Greenwich Village he shared with his partner, James. Brilliant but troubled, James gave Carlisle an education in all that he held dear in life—literature, music, and, most of all, dance.

Seduced by the heady pull of mentorship and hoping to follow in the footsteps of her mother—a former Balanchine ballerina—Carlisle’s aspiration to become a professional ballet dancer bloomed. But above all else, she longed to be asked to stay at the house on Bank Street, to be a part of Robert and James’s sophisticated world, even as the AIDS crisis brings devastation to their community. Instead, a passionate love affair created a rift between the family, with shattering consequences that reverberated for decades to come. Nineteen years later, when Carlisle receives a phone call that unravels the events of that fateful summer, she sees with new eyes how her younger self has informed the woman she’s become.

They’re Going to Love You is a gripping and gorgeously written novel of heartbreaking intensity. With psychological precision and a masterfully revealed secret at its heart, it asks what it takes to be an artist in America, and the price of forgiveness, of ambition, and of love.

©2022 Meg Howrey (P)2022 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

A New York Times Editor's Choice • Best Book of the Year: The New Yorker, Jezebel & BookRiot • A Millions Most Anticipated Book of the Year

"Beautiful...Howrey, a former dancer with the Joffrey Ballet, proves herself a talented choreographer in her own right...In this finger-trap puzzle of a plot, the pull of the past meets the pressures of the present as James summons her to the dying Robert’s bedside. The controlled performance is as grueling and gorgeous as a dance en pointe."—Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, New York Times Book Review

"Howrey’s writing is precise and eloquent, like finely tuned ballet, but above all, this soul-stirring novel is about love, loyalty and one’s lifelong relationship to art."—Seattle Times

"A beautiful and relatable portrait of a woman, her regrets, and her successes. As Howrey unflinchingly and honestly dives into the intricacies of relationships and the inevitable growing pains that come with life, she also mines her history as a ballet dancer to deliver an honest portrayal of the dance world, the realities of working artists, and the obstacles facing female choreographers, revealing real-world truths through a fictional setting."—NPR

Enchanting and moving

Beautifully written. The author reads it with great compassion and sensitivity. Highly recommended. Hope a film is in the works!

Amazing!

This novel was so well written and the narration by the author is really the chef’s kiss. I can’t recommend it highly enough!

Enviously good

Extremely well-wrought. A joy to read (or listen to). One of the best of the year. Thank you, Ms. Howrey!

Even better than I hoped

Meg Howery depicts emotional relationships with a truthful complexity that I am amazed by. I can’t wait for her next book.

love in all it's forms and choreography

I found most notable the interior voice of a young girl not sure of why she made the choices she made and then feeling she had betrayed though she loved.

A beautiful and sometimes tedious story…

This is the story of a girl who was in awe of her father,followed in his footsteps and in some ways became him in her own way. It wasn’t always pretty or according to plan, people didn’t always do the right thing but hey, isn’t that like real life?

Wonderful

A wonderful story about choices and regrets and life and family and what real forgiveness looks like.

Love you

If I was a fan of ballet this story would have meant so much more but I’m not. It’s slow and very sad. I was hoping for a happier ending with a love interest but that would have been too cookie cutter. It’s a story of a girl growing up with divorced parents, one of which is gay and her need to feel love from both. Her one chance at happiness gets shot down and things go awry after that. Not a lift- me - up book by any means.

Gorgeous

I loved everything about this audiobook. I loved every beautiful sentence so much I bought a copy of the book too.