It was perfect – until it all fell apart. 

Miller, Ash and Olly were always the best of friends, growing up in the idyllically named Wonderland, a Quaker town in middle America. When they finish school in the early 1980’s the three of them travel across country to LA, establishing a successful record label, until finally, a combination of youth, bravado and poor communication leads to a breakdown of their friendship. Miller and Ash return to Wonderland to raise their son Nate, leaving Olly in LA with control of the business.  

However, Olly has been lurching from one bad relationship and bad business decision to the next, and attempts, unsuccessfully to end his life. While recovering in hospital he decides to try to figure out what went wrong all those years ago and to see if he can once again find his purpose. Olly returns to Wonderland, where Miller and Ash are having some issues of their own. 

With a host of quirky characters, including aging Aunt Tassie who believes she is a character from a Herman Melville novel, Rodrigo, an eccentric movie director in town to film his adaptation of Moby Dick, Nate’s next door neighbour Suki and his best friend Cam, who are both trying to figure out their places in life, but with very different outcomes, and Blue, an impulsive, passionate singer who happens to be Olly’s ex. 

This is Gonna End in Tears, by Liza Klaussmann shows us what can happen when we are so caught up in our own lives that we fail to notice what else might be falling apart.