Genre Fiction
![Matthew Norman - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_a_matthew_norman.jpg)
All Together Now: A Novel
A dying man brings his oldest friends together for one last beach blowout in this witty, heartfelt novel from the author of Last Couple Standing.
"A delightful novel about the meaning of friendship and how we dream of being remembered by those closest to us . . . a fabulous vacation of a book!"-Amanda Eyre Ward, New York Times bestselling author of The Jetsetters
At just thirty-five, reclusive billionaire Robbie Malcolm is a renowned financial prognosticator, a celebrated philanthropist, and a mathematical genius. Also, he's dying, which is a fact he's carefully concealing from the world.
As he takes stock, Robbie realizes that his wealth means nothing if he can't help the people who matter most. So he invites his oldest friends-Blair, Cat, and Wade-to their beloved Fenwick Island on the coast of Delaware to share his secret and to reveal plans for each of them that he believes will change their lives forever.
However, Robbie isn't the only one with secrets. The bonds the friends formed as teenagers still exist, but adulthood has brought a whole new set of complications, like unrequited loves, marriages on the brink, and so much unfulfilled potential. Robbie's plans may look good on paper, but are they any match for the utter disaster that is real life?
As everything comes to light over a wild weekend full of surprises, Robbie learns there are still some things money can't buy, and a group of friends who thought their best years were behind them realize just how much they have to look forward to.
"A delightful novel about the meaning of friendship and how we dream of being remembered by those closest to us . . . a fabulous vacation of a book!"-Amanda Eyre Ward, New York Times bestselling author of The Jetsetters
At just thirty-five, reclusive billionaire Robbie Malcolm is a renowned financial prognosticator, a celebrated philanthropist, and a mathematical genius. Also, he's dying, which is a fact he's carefully concealing from the world.
As he takes stock, Robbie realizes that his wealth means nothing if he can't help the people who matter most. So he invites his oldest friends-Blair, Cat, and Wade-to their beloved Fenwick Island on the coast of Delaware to share his secret and to reveal plans for each of them that he believes will change their lives forever.
However, Robbie isn't the only one with secrets. The bonds the friends formed as teenagers still exist, but adulthood has brought a whole new set of complications, like unrequited loves, marriages on the brink, and so much unfulfilled potential. Robbie's plans may look good on paper, but are they any match for the utter disaster that is real life?
As everything comes to light over a wild weekend full of surprises, Robbie learns there are still some things money can't buy, and a group of friends who thought their best years were behind them realize just how much they have to look forward to.
Editorial Reviews
"Fast, fun, and wise."-Nancy Thayer, New York Times bestselling author of Family Reunion
"All Together Now-a delightful novel about the meaning of friendship and how we dream of being remembered by those closest to us-won me from the first page. Matthew Norman's latest made me wish I were reading it alongside its warm, wonderful characters on a sunny beach: eating too much, telling secrets, and maybe even getting a matching tattoo. . . . A fabulous vacation of a book!"-Amanda Eyre Ward, New York Times bestselling author of The Jetsetters
"Like a modern, updated The Big Chill, All Together Now features a gathering of pals who spill the truth, rehash the past, air grievances, and then let their enormous love for one another wash it all clean. I fell hard for each of the charming, oddball characters and laughed, cried, and gasped along with them as I raced from the opening pages to the final chapter in this delightful, funny, and heartwarming book."-Jessica Anya Blau, author of Mary Jane
"All Together Now is an absolute delight-an ode to true, everlasting friendship, endless love, and life itself. Like the characters from The Breakfast Club twenty years later, the Baltimore Prep Rejects are a flawed, funny, dysfunctional bunch who fit together perfectly."-Owen Nicholls, author of Love, Unscripted
"With warmth, wit, and compassion, All Together Now weaves an enchanting tale of friendship and love that will keep readers hooked until the last page. The novel is a master class in storytelling, with a powerful premise and palpable affection for its characters . . . A glorious summer read."-Bruce Holsinger, national bestselling author ofThe Gifted School
"Norman's latest novel is a natural complement to Emma Straub's Modern Lovers...
"All Together Now-a delightful novel about the meaning of friendship and how we dream of being remembered by those closest to us-won me from the first page. Matthew Norman's latest made me wish I were reading it alongside its warm, wonderful characters on a sunny beach: eating too much, telling secrets, and maybe even getting a matching tattoo. . . . A fabulous vacation of a book!"-Amanda Eyre Ward, New York Times bestselling author of The Jetsetters
"Like a modern, updated The Big Chill, All Together Now features a gathering of pals who spill the truth, rehash the past, air grievances, and then let their enormous love for one another wash it all clean. I fell hard for each of the charming, oddball characters and laughed, cried, and gasped along with them as I raced from the opening pages to the final chapter in this delightful, funny, and heartwarming book."-Jessica Anya Blau, author of Mary Jane
"All Together Now is an absolute delight-an ode to true, everlasting friendship, endless love, and life itself. Like the characters from The Breakfast Club twenty years later, the Baltimore Prep Rejects are a flawed, funny, dysfunctional bunch who fit together perfectly."-Owen Nicholls, author of Love, Unscripted
"With warmth, wit, and compassion, All Together Now weaves an enchanting tale of friendship and love that will keep readers hooked until the last page. The novel is a master class in storytelling, with a powerful premise and palpable affection for its characters . . . A glorious summer read."-Bruce Holsinger, national bestselling author ofThe Gifted School
"Norman's latest novel is a natural complement to Emma Straub's Modern Lovers...
Readers Top Reviews
J. LuizCharles Murph
This is a book I kept wanting to come back to. Matthew Norman does a great job of developing intriguing characters and throwing them into a blender of challenging emotions and pending life decisions. The premise here is a billionaire on the verge of dying from pancreatic cancer, brings back his three best friends from high school, with the goal of straightening out their lives and righting all the wrong decisions they've been making. Many secrets get revealed and the two men and two men who are the central characters are all appealing, believable people. And Norman has a great gift with humor, so it's a light and entertaining read even while he's taking on big issues, like death, infidelities and more. It's a great addition to his already impressive four-book oeuvre!
L. Evans
I’ve read every book he’s written and this one is now my favorite. The characters are endearing, the story is fresh, Best of all it had the wittiness I always look forward to in his books. I laughed, I cried, and I smiled through tears. This is his best work yet. What a great summer read! This is a book you want to give to your friends so they can have the same experience of love, friendship and all of the wonderful feelings this book brings. -Lisa (aka Southern Girl Reads)
Susan M. Baumann
All Together Now is reminiscent of the movie, “The Big Chill”, and reminds me somewhat of Jonathan Tropper’s books as well. It’s a warm-hearted, hopeful tale about long term friendships and the unexpected turns that life can take. The central character is Robbie Malcolm, a 35 year-old billionaire, who’s dying of cancer. He decides to gather his three best friends from high school for a nostalgic beach weekend vacation. Wade, Cat, Blair and Robbie meet at a beautiful beach house and spend time sifting through their memories and assessing how their lives have played out so far. Blair is a wife, mother and a frustrated former painter, concerned about the state of her marriage. She’s restless and bored. Wade is a novelist, obsessed with The Beatles and worried about his lackluster book sales. Cat works in television and longs for lasting love and maybe a baby. Their lives are stalled and floundering, and Robbie hopes to help his friends before it’s too late. The characters are somewhat sad and forlorn at first, but each blossoms in surprising ways as the weekend unfolds. This book was a refreshing surprise. Quirky characters that grow on you as the novel moves along. It’s a sweet, redemptive story, with some funny moments and a tear or two. Dash is also a wonderful character. A worthwhile read.
Reader
The characters were fun to get to know. The plot was interesting, definitely different.
KP
Highly recommend!! So so so good! Remarkably hard to put down once you start reading, as it grabs you right from the beginning. A great melding of humor, friendship, intrigue, emotions and relatable, real-life situations, with a nice dose of silliness and imagination thrown in. Loved the story. Sad it had to end.
Short Excerpt Teaser
Chapter 1
Blair Harden is sitting in the sort of traffic you usually associate with movies about the end of the world. The cars are stacked in tight rows on U.S. Route 50 East. Occasionally, there'll be a brief stretch of open road-like a prison break-but then everyone slams on their brakes again.
Blair looks up through the windshield and imagines a meteor approaching. It enters the atmosphere through the clouds, cuts across the sky, and then blows everything up. Boom.
"Just go," Martin whispers from the driver's seat.
He's not addressing anyone in particular, Blair knows. This is just what her husband does: he talks to traffic.
"The gas pedal," he says. "The one on the right. Just push it."
"We should've left earlier," Blair whispers. This couldn't be less helpful, but she says it anyway, because, well, marriage. Martin squeezes the steering wheel in response.
They've opted to drive themselves to Fenwick Island instead of accepting Robbie's offer of a car. This made sense at the time, but it'd be nice now, Blair thinks, to be cradled in whatever luxurious thing Robbie would've sent for them. They've been on the road for nearly an hour now, but they're barely out of D.C., and the minivan smells like Goldfish crackers and melted crayons.
Martin taps the dashboard screen, flipping from '90s on 9 to '80s on 8. It's an entirely symbolic gesture. The volume is so low that neither of them can hear it, because five-year-old Kenny is passed out in his car seat, and everyone in the vehicle knows that waking him for anything short of a car fire would be a catastrophic mistake.
They inch forward. Martin brakes. They inch forward some more.
There's another minivan in front of them. It's maroon, and it has a bumper sticker that says I Used to Be Cool. It's the same model as the minivan Blair and Martin are driving: a Honda Odyssey. Their Odyssey is Lunar Silver Metallic, which is just a fancy way of saying gray. Buying a minivan was another thing that made sense at the time, but now Blair hates the Odyssey more than any other single object in her life.
"Mommy," whispers Michelle, Kenny's twin, younger by eleven agonizing minutes. She's wearing ladybug earbuds. "Can we listen to Taylor Swift?"
Blair holds her finger to her lips, and Michelle frowns.
The Baltimore Prep Rejects were best friends.
Correction: the Baltimore Prep Rejects are best friends. Tense is tricky when you're in your thirties and you're talking about people from high school, but ask any one of them who their best friends are and they'll list one another, despite the fact that they're scattered all over the country now and haven't all been in the same room in six years.
Blair McKenzie, Cat Miller, Robbie Malcolm, and Wade Stephens earned their nickname the first week of June in their senior year at Baltimore Catholic Preparatory High School. One week before graduation, three of them were expelled, one of them dropped out in solidarity, and the Baltimore Prep Rejects were born.
Blair looks back now at the twins. Michelle is focused on her iPad, and Kenny is sleeping so hard that his head looks like it's on sideways. Blair takes out her phone and scrolls back through the group's text chain from two weeks ago.
She was standing in the kitchen wearing yoga gear when Robbie's invitation arrived. It was hand delivered and expensive looking, with gold foil on fancy card stock. The Malcolm Capital logo had been pressed into a red wax seal on the envelope, like on a bottle of fancy scotch. Blair read it and immediately texted Cat.
Hey. Did you get this thing from Robbie?
It took two hours for Cat to reply, which was typical. Cat lives in L.A., so she's always dropping in and out of text chains at weird hours, like she's beaming in from a different dimension.
Just got it. You going?
Blair replied that she didn't know yet. Then she asked, You?
Ten seconds later, Cat replied, What has two thumbs and likes free beach vacations? She included two thumb emojis for emphasis.
I'll talk to Martin about it, wrote Blair.
Cat replied, Lame! Then she wrote, That's why I don't have a husband. I like being totally in charge.
Blair wrote back, Wait, THAT'S why you don't have a husband? She smiled when she saw Cat's reply, which was two dancing girl emojis, a unicorn, and a rainbow. Blair couldn't remember if Cat was seeing anyone. She didn't want to ask, though, because it would've highlighted that they hadn't spoken in a while, so, instead, she replied, Miss you, to which Cat sent a little cartoon heart.
A few hours later, after Blair had picked up the twins from school, she texted Cat again. Do you think...
Blair Harden is sitting in the sort of traffic you usually associate with movies about the end of the world. The cars are stacked in tight rows on U.S. Route 50 East. Occasionally, there'll be a brief stretch of open road-like a prison break-but then everyone slams on their brakes again.
Blair looks up through the windshield and imagines a meteor approaching. It enters the atmosphere through the clouds, cuts across the sky, and then blows everything up. Boom.
"Just go," Martin whispers from the driver's seat.
He's not addressing anyone in particular, Blair knows. This is just what her husband does: he talks to traffic.
"The gas pedal," he says. "The one on the right. Just push it."
"We should've left earlier," Blair whispers. This couldn't be less helpful, but she says it anyway, because, well, marriage. Martin squeezes the steering wheel in response.
They've opted to drive themselves to Fenwick Island instead of accepting Robbie's offer of a car. This made sense at the time, but it'd be nice now, Blair thinks, to be cradled in whatever luxurious thing Robbie would've sent for them. They've been on the road for nearly an hour now, but they're barely out of D.C., and the minivan smells like Goldfish crackers and melted crayons.
Martin taps the dashboard screen, flipping from '90s on 9 to '80s on 8. It's an entirely symbolic gesture. The volume is so low that neither of them can hear it, because five-year-old Kenny is passed out in his car seat, and everyone in the vehicle knows that waking him for anything short of a car fire would be a catastrophic mistake.
They inch forward. Martin brakes. They inch forward some more.
There's another minivan in front of them. It's maroon, and it has a bumper sticker that says I Used to Be Cool. It's the same model as the minivan Blair and Martin are driving: a Honda Odyssey. Their Odyssey is Lunar Silver Metallic, which is just a fancy way of saying gray. Buying a minivan was another thing that made sense at the time, but now Blair hates the Odyssey more than any other single object in her life.
"Mommy," whispers Michelle, Kenny's twin, younger by eleven agonizing minutes. She's wearing ladybug earbuds. "Can we listen to Taylor Swift?"
Blair holds her finger to her lips, and Michelle frowns.
The Baltimore Prep Rejects were best friends.
Correction: the Baltimore Prep Rejects are best friends. Tense is tricky when you're in your thirties and you're talking about people from high school, but ask any one of them who their best friends are and they'll list one another, despite the fact that they're scattered all over the country now and haven't all been in the same room in six years.
Blair McKenzie, Cat Miller, Robbie Malcolm, and Wade Stephens earned their nickname the first week of June in their senior year at Baltimore Catholic Preparatory High School. One week before graduation, three of them were expelled, one of them dropped out in solidarity, and the Baltimore Prep Rejects were born.
Blair looks back now at the twins. Michelle is focused on her iPad, and Kenny is sleeping so hard that his head looks like it's on sideways. Blair takes out her phone and scrolls back through the group's text chain from two weeks ago.
She was standing in the kitchen wearing yoga gear when Robbie's invitation arrived. It was hand delivered and expensive looking, with gold foil on fancy card stock. The Malcolm Capital logo had been pressed into a red wax seal on the envelope, like on a bottle of fancy scotch. Blair read it and immediately texted Cat.
Hey. Did you get this thing from Robbie?
It took two hours for Cat to reply, which was typical. Cat lives in L.A., so she's always dropping in and out of text chains at weird hours, like she's beaming in from a different dimension.
Just got it. You going?
Blair replied that she didn't know yet. Then she asked, You?
Ten seconds later, Cat replied, What has two thumbs and likes free beach vacations? She included two thumb emojis for emphasis.
I'll talk to Martin about it, wrote Blair.
Cat replied, Lame! Then she wrote, That's why I don't have a husband. I like being totally in charge.
Blair wrote back, Wait, THAT'S why you don't have a husband? She smiled when she saw Cat's reply, which was two dancing girl emojis, a unicorn, and a rainbow. Blair couldn't remember if Cat was seeing anyone. She didn't want to ask, though, because it would've highlighted that they hadn't spoken in a while, so, instead, she replied, Miss you, to which Cat sent a little cartoon heart.
A few hours later, after Blair had picked up the twins from school, she texted Cat again. Do you think...
