🎧 ‘The Great War’ by Taylor Swift
In preparation for Magnolia Parks: Into the Dark I thought I’d write a little summary of what happens in The Long Way Home. I’ll answer some of the bigger questions first then dive into the full summary. Beware of spoilers, this will be diving deep into the details.
|Quick Answers|
Why is December 3rd such an important date to Magnolia and BJ?
When she was 16, Magnolia discovered she was pregnant with BJ’s baby. At 15 weeks they lost the baby and Magnolia had to have a traumatic procedure done. Every December 3rd her and BJ return to the Dartmouth house were their baby is buried under the tree out back. No one knew about it until they reveal it to them in this book.
Why did BJ cheat on Magnolia?
While we know he cheated on Magnolia with her best friend, the why has been kinda iffy. He worships the ground she walks on and it just never made sense even to Magnolia. It’s finally revealed that when BJ was 14 he was sexually assaulted and the night he cheats on Magnolia is when he sees his abuser for the first time since it happened. He doesn’t really know how to process his emotions and desperately wants to feel in control so he has sex with the first person he sees, who happens to be Paili. He made the choice to cheat but I definitely think there were a lot of factors at play. Not excusing it at all though.
Did Bridget die?
I’m sorry to tell you that yes she does. It appears she had untreated internal trauma after the accident she and Magnolia were in. She passes away in her bed where Magnolia finds her. BJ attempts to save her but it’s too late.
|Book Summary|
Long Way Home kicks off right where Magnolia Parks left off. Magnolia has left BJ and run off to live in New York with Tom England after discovering that the person he cheated on her with her best friend. Tom gets dumped after telling her he loves her, only for Magnolia to then start hooking up with his best friend Rush Evans. Taura has befriended her since everything went down a year ago and her, Henry, Christian and Bridget visit her as much as they can. She’s been planning her dad’s wedding to Marsaili from afar and of course returns to attend it.
Meanwhile BJ has been putting in the WORK. Thanks to Bridget’s influence he’s finally gotten himself to therapy and has been working on turning his life around by quitting his drug use. He’s even managed to get himself into a relationship with a boring yet drama free girl, Jordan.
At the wedding BJ shows up without his girlfriend and Magnolia tries and of course fails to stay away from him. They share a moment and it’s pointed out that BJ has gotten a new tattoo of two dead bees. They agree to meet up again before Magnolia leaves town.
Jordan is upset Magnolia is in town and will be hanging out around Beej and HER friends. She’s very insecure about their baggage that BJ says he and Magnolia needs to sort and keeps harping over the fact that Magnolia hurt him badly. As if he didn’t cheat and cause all those problems? Jordan is not a girls girl obviously.
Christian has a party at a club where the entire friend group meets up. We find out both Jonah and Henry are hooking up with and have a thing for Taura who has been Magnolia’s friend for the past year after everything went down. Julian Haites aka the hottest and worst gang lord ever attends as well.
Beej and Magnolia meet up and and he explains to her that when he was 14 he was sexually assaulted and the night he cheated on her was the first time he saw his abuser since it happened. He didn’t really know how to process his emotions and desperately wanted to feel in control so he has sex with the first person he sees, who happens to be Paili. Magnolia breaks down after BJ tells her and says it would have changed everything if he had it explained it to her back then. She then runs away again and flees to Paris with Taura, Bridget and Gus.
BJ goes to therapy and explains what happened with Magnolia and it’s revealed that he only went to therapy as a way to become “good enough for Magnolia.” His therapist then explains that even with all the progress he’s made (and like really hats off to him he’s doing amazing in therapy and become a much better guy) that he can love Magnolia and still not be with her. He might always love her in some capacity even if they aren’t together. He debates ending his relationship with Jordan.
Magnolia flys back to London for December 3rd. She is offered the Style Editor job at the London office which she accepts and then she heads to the Dartmouth Estate. Every December 3rd her and BJ meet at the estate under the tree. It is revealed that when she was 16 Magnolia had secretly miscarried her and BJ’s daughter and she is buried at the tree. When she finally makes it to the tree she sees magnolia flowers have been left by Beej, meaning he’s already come and gone. She blacks out.
When she comes to again Bridget is there. Magnolia finally tells her about her miscarriage and Bridge is proven right that the couple is trauma bonded. The drive back into town and decide to go out. Taura shows up with Christian, Jonah, Henry, BJ and BJ’s girlfriend. Magnolia gets absolutely sloshed and propositions BJ in front of said girlfriend which causes Jordan to leave. She also drops hints about December 3rd to her friends. BJ then helps Bridget get Magnolia home and he stays the night. When they wake up they realize they’re gonna have to their friends about the miscarriage
They meet up with their friends that night for dinner and discuss how they got pregnant and lost the baby in high school. After BJ and Magnolia go for a walk and she drops the bomb that she accepted the stye editor job and won’t be leaving town after all.
Taura, Bridget and Magnolia decide to live together now that Magnolia is staying in town. They get an apartment in Mayfair. It’s also revealed that Taura knew it was Paili that BJ had cheated on Magnolia with, but let her believe the rumors that it was Taura herself so she didn’t lose her boyfriend and best friend at the same time. The group goes out that night and Magnolia thinks she and Beej might get back together, only for him to show up with Jordan and a new tattoo of a dead baby bambi on his chest. Rush shows up and takes Magnolia home and states that Tom got the same tattoo.
The girls move into their apartment and Magnolia goes to lunch the next day with Henry and Jonah. They run into Perry, Paili’s best friend, and shit hits the fan. BJ goes to lunch to try and break up with Jordan, only to agree to her moving in with him. Jordan announces it when they’re out to dinner with the friend group. To say it doesn’t go over well with Magnolia would be an understatement. Jack-Jack Cavan, pro-skater and another one of Magnolia’s flings, shows up and rescues her by taking her back to his hotel.
While hanging out with with Christian, Henry and Taura at a later date, Magnolia realizes she hasn’t told BJ she loves him since everything between them went down years ago. She rushes over to his apartment to tell him, only for it to end in yet another fight. Beej is an ass to her and proceeds to go upstairs and have sex with Jordan while thinking of Magnolia. So much for the therapy working.
BJ, Jonah, Taura and Magnolia all go on a disastrous birthday trip for Taura that ends with Jonah and BJ faking car issues so they have to stay in a hotel for the night. BJ of course gets Jonah to lie about there also only being two rooms available so he and Magnolia have to share one. BJ finally admits he loves her too and then cheats on his girlfriend. A fact that is pointed out to Magnolia by Jonah the next morning at breakfast. Magnolia proceeds to lose her shit at being the other woman and BJ slut shames her. BJ then goes home and tells Jordan who doesn’t care and they end up having sex too. You can’t make this shit up.
But wait it gets worse. The group later goes out to a club and Magnolia walks up on BJ telling Jonah he had sex with Jordan when he got home. Magnolia is devastated and Henry picks up the pieces yet again. Him and Beej actually almost come to blows over it. This little ordeal sends Magnolia right into Julian Haites’s open arms. Which Beej discovers on NYE.
Julian and Magnolia engage in an on-again off-again relationship where of course he falls for her. Drama ensues frequently and all the while BJ debates breaking up with Jordan. This goes on for a few months until BJ and Jordan call it mutual quits because it turns out she was just using him the past few months to gain Instagram followers and has been seeing the DJ from the NYE party. This leads to Julian creating a moment for BJ and Magnolia by getting caught shagging another girl (it was a blatant set-up that Julian later admits to). Beej defends Magnolia’s honor and the two end up back at Magnolia’s apartment where she cleans him up and they share a kiss.
Instead of jumping right back into a relationship with each other BJ suggests they take it slow and try friendship first, but he does tell her he loves her. It seems to be going well until they run into Paili while shopping one day. It brings old feelings to the surface again and Magnolia realizes she is still upset and not sure if she can move past these feelings, but knows she needs to at least trust him again if they are going to make a relationship work. While she is ready to forgive and trust him again, BJ declares he still doesn’t trust her not to leave him again. He’s still upset that she ran away to New York after finding out it was Paili.
To help sort out her feelings, Magnolia seeks Bridget out and the two end up in a car crash that lands them both in the hospital. The car crash seems to be gang related and probably due to Magnolia’s association with Julian. Magnolia has to undergo surgery while Bridget appears to have minimal injuries. BJ rushes to her side and helps to take care of her as she recovers.
A few days after she’s released from the hospital, BJ reveals he bought them a house and proposes to Magnolia. She of course accepts. He later states he ordered the ring back on December 6th after he found out she was staying (okay but then why all the back and forth, not breaking up with Jordan and awful tattoos symbolizing Magnolia was dead to him??). They go out to dinner with their friends and family to tell them about the engagement.
They all share a blissful week of wedding planning and whatnot. One night after discussing dates and possible maid of honor candidates, Bridget appears to not be feeling well and decides to go to bed early. Magnolia, thinking he sister was upset with her for misunderstanding her maid of honor pick, follows her up to her room only to find Bridget dead. BJ attempts to save her but it appears to be too late. Magnolia reminisces about how while her parents have always let her down, her sister has not.
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