Not what I was expecting, but I enjoyed leaning about this quirky, loving family as they spend their annual week at the beach cottage. It’s about love and its evolving state, whether it’s romantic or parent/child. It’s about keeping secrets and whether the holder of the secrets is trying to protect their loved ones or themselves. It touches on post-partum depression and anticipatory grief and shines a spotlight on couple dynamics and navigating a marriage. The story is narrated with humor and self-deprecation by Rocky, the mom, who is dealing with menopause, the weight of guilt, and being an empty nester. Recommended

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Harper through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Catherine Newman has become an author whose books will immediately be a purchase in the future for me. "Sandwich" is such an intimate tale of a family's vacation that is so specific yet so incredibly relatable for anyone who has spent a meaningful amount of time with their own relatives. I cannot wait to read her next publication.

A good lighthearted read. Made me a bit apprehensive about menopause but all in good humor! A very relatable little book.

I tried reading this book last year because all my book buddies raved about it, but I couldn't relate to the main character because I’m only in my 30’s and my children are very young. I didn’t want to DNF, so I set it aside for another time.

Fast forward to now, I listened to the audiobook and was bored to death with the lack of a plot and the bland characters.

Wow, this book just did not work at all for me, from the opening pages where main character Rocky is introduced dealing with an overflowing toilet in her rented beach house, which I think is supposed to be a quirky, "meet funny" moment not-so-subtly indicating the state of her life but which immediately turned me off to both her and the book. Things did not get better with the introduction of Rocky's son and particularly her daughter, who never rose above stereotypes for me (her long-suffering husband was the only character I felt for) and the hot-button-issue plot points and stilted dialogue often felt engineered primarily to serve as a soap box. "Sandwich" has over 20,000 five star reviews, so maybe it's me--and I am ok with that.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Harper for providing me with an ARC of this title in return for my honest review.

Sandwich by Catherine Newman is well written with interesting characters. However, it felt a bit lackluster for me and was a bit of a slog to get through.

Sandwich is a place in Massachusetts known as a beach town. Rocky and Nick have spent every summer there since their children were very small. This summer, the kids are grown, and Rocky (who is the mom), is reminiscing about summers when the kids were small. She has had a hard time accepting the empty nest phase of her life, so this one week is just pure love and joy for her.

The anxiety she feels every day is told very well by the author. I could almost feel it for her. She is in between dealing with grown kids that no longer need her, and her parents that are getting older. To add to that, she is experiencing menopausal symptoms that are not very pleasant. I really felt sorry for Rocky, as it seemed to me, she suffered from depression as well. For a first novel by Ms. Newman, I thought it was pretty good. Thank you to Harper publishing and NetGalley for the ARC

I loved this read so much! It was a book I didn't know I needed and at the perfect time! While I might be younger than the main character, I did feel like there was a lot for me to relate to throughout the story. And it definitely made me give pause to the craziness of life, slow down, and appreciate my relationships with my husband, and my kids. But it almost made me sad about how quickly this life flies by and how each chapter in our lives brings us different hurdles and different mountains to climb. Loved this one and how it made me reflect.

A delightful read, a fresh voice from threading between the generations - didnt sound like every other mom POV out there.

Sandwich by Catherine Newman is a poignant, funny, and heartfelt exploration of family dynamics, aging, and self-discovery. Set during a yearly family vacation to Cape Cod, the novel follows Rocky, a woman navigating the challenges of midlife, hormonal changes, and the shifting roles within her family. Sandwiched between her children, who are growing up fast, and her aging parents, who require more care, Rocky’s world feels both familiar and increasingly complicated.

Newman’s writing shines as she delicately balances humor with the emotional weight of Rocky’s journey. The book captures the bittersweet nature of family vacations—how the same rituals and locations can be a source of joy and tension alike. As Rocky grapples with her changing body and the unresolved emotional baggage from her past, the narrative takes readers through a reflective journey, revealing the complexity of her relationships and the secrets she’s kept hidden.

With rich, relatable characters and moments of sharp humor, Sandwich is an insightful look at the turbulence of midlife and the impermanence of family life. It’s a story of love, forgiveness, and accepting oneself—perfect for readers seeking a story about growth, vulnerability, and the messiness of life. Newman's engaging voice and vivid storytelling make this novel a heartfelt and enjoyable read.

While reading SANDWICH It was hard not to root for Rocky and Nick in this emotional and heartwarming story. Both characters enjoy a simple life and neither needs much to enjoy life. But, there are some pretty big obstacles for them to overcome. I really loved the fun-flowing banter between all of the family members and really enjoyed their reactions to the issues that come up throughout the week of vacation. SANDWICH has a slower pace, but I didn’t mind as that’s exactly what the characters needed too. Their love story is one I’ve heard before, but it’s still unique and very special.

I loved SANDWICH very much. It is emotional, funny at times, hopeful, and inspirational. The characters are deep, well-developed, and realistic. SANDWICH is a book about love and change and loss, all packed into an annual family vacation week on Cape Cod. After reading for a while and getting pulled into the book I started to realize that Nick and Rocky were both much more complex than I initially realized. Also, they were very good together. Nick made Rocky a better person and made her want to do more with her life. Nick was the light that Rocky needed in her life. However, they both have their own issues they need to work out first.

The way these characters in SANDWICH interact and learn to trust each other makes a wonderful story and I was very glad to go on this journey! When Rocky’s secret from years ago comes back, front and center in her life, she wonders how much her life is about to change. Now Rocky is forced to face what she did and why, all those years ago. I found myself so absorbed in SANDWICH that I couldn’t wait until I knew what happened with everyone and how Ms. Newman was going to wrap up this heart tugging story. I can’t wait to read more by this wonderful author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions expressed are my own and were voluntarily given.

"Sandwich" is about three generations of one family being brought together for their annual family vacation. All have a unique voice but the one resounding voice heard above the others is Rocky’s. Along with her husband, she is sandwiched between her parents and two adult children.

The main focus of this story is their extended family as seen through Rocky’s eyes and heart. It’s bold and tender, full of humor and sadness, and her first-person narrative exposes her secrets, fears, and regrets. But mostly, it's a story about deep, endearing love.

I read Catherine Newman's previous novel "We All Want Impossible Things" and fell in love with her simple writing style, emotional storytelling, and perfectly imperfect characters. My first response after reading it was "Wow, what a ride".

How does Newman pack so much believable life and living into novels that are barely over 200 pages?

I was hooked on "Sandwich" seconds after reading its short prologue. It's my favorite read of 2024 and I highly recommend it. Thank you, Catherine Newman, for another great ride!

5⭐

Thank you to Harper and Catherine Newman for the DRC via NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I cannot explain how much I loved this book. I fell in love with Catherine Newman after reading We All Want Impossible Things and it's candor and approach to tragic topics that managed to feel real and hysterical. Newman continues this work in this book: Sandwich is so FUNNY and heartbreaking and well-written. It tells the story of a family’s week at the beach, where the main character has adult children and aging parents (the sandwich generation) and so many feelings. Catherine Newman is one of the funniest writers I’ve ever read, and she manages to capture relationships in the most lovely way that feels honest and warm.

Life is a seesaw, and I am standing dead center, still and balanced: living kids on one side, living parents on the other. Nicky here with me at the fulcrum. Don't move a muscle, I think. But I will, of course. You have to.

Freelance writer and recent empty-nester Rocky is a hot mess, both literally and figuratively. Jamie, her 24-year-old son, is gainfully employed in another city, while 20-year-old daughter Willa is pursuing a degree in biology. Many things have changed over the years, but one thing has remained: the tradition of a family trip in the same undersized rental house. Sure, they're now joined by Jamie's girlfriend Maya, and Willa keeps disappearing to spend time with the cute girl from the surf shop, and Rocky can't stop blurting out her inappropriate thoughts and questions or having hot flashes or picking fights with her husband Nick...but who cares?

The reader spends time in Rocky's chaotic, hormonal inner life over the course of a week spent in a too-small rental home in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Everything's changing—her body, her marriage, the life trajectories of the kids—and through it all burns a confusing, white-hot rage that she struggles to keep under control. Sandwich is Catherine Newman's second novel, although she's written some non-fiction books as well as some illustrated books for children.

Reading this book was a visceral experience, and I mean that in the best possible way. I feel like I shrugged inside Rocky's body like an ill-fitting coat. While I am twenty years younger than Rocky, I'm no stranger to hormonal woes, so I had no problem imagining what she was feeling. I appreciated the scatterbrainedness of it all, the hyperfocusing on detailed memories that so perfectly encapsulated the amusing exhaustion that is parenting young kids woven together with clumsy attempts at learning how to navigate relationships with adult children, aging parents, and a spouse she's relearning now that they finally have more than five minutes to themselves.

If you aren't much for slice-of-life or introspective style novels, especially one with a deeply flawed narrator, this may not be the read for you. Lower-rated reviews refer to Rocky's infuriating actions and thoughts, and they're not wrong. She makes many missteps and even grave errors, both on the current year's trip and in the past, and to be honest I'm not sure she learns from them. I'm fine with that, because I'm a melancholy anxious depressive who doesn't mind loose ends in a book like this, but if you won't be, this may a title to release back into the wild for another wanderer to find.

I loved the setting of this novel, as I live in MA. I could relate to many of the issues and experiences of the protagonist, Rocky. The yearly, week at the Cape is an event near to many MA residents' summers. So much is packed into a week on the Cape. Rocky's story shares some universal experiences as well as some that are unique to her and her household. There's something about the sea air that uncovers secrets and begs for peace and recovery. While at times slow, overall, the pacing of this novel was good, and the storyline kept me engaged. Thanks to Harper and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.

This was a short and sweet little slice of life novel about a woman coming to terms with the physical and emotional horrors of menopause, her children growing into adults, her parents’ declining health, and the decisions she made in her past.

I found this mostly enjoyable though often repetitive and a bit over the top with the woke lingo and therapy speak. Like idk, the kids felt pretty realistic to me in that way, but it almost felt the like the mother was constantly assuring the reader that she is, in fact, down with the liberal young folk lol. Which like, I get the impulse to do that, but it just took away from my ability to really stay engaged with the actual story.

Rocky and her family have always escaped to Cape Cod for a summer vacation. This year, Rocky is sandwiched between her half-grown children and her aging parents, and she’s also contending with her own changing body and hormonal changes, largely thanks to menopause. When Rocky revisits summers long-gone bye, she finds the sorrow and the tenderness of her own past while confronting her future.

This is the kind of book that readers will want to crawl inside of and live in. It's impossible not to love these characters and their quirks so much and want to be part of their family. Newman’s dialogue is unmatched, and her ability to create characters that feel fully human and flawed and beautiful is staggering. The exploration of motherhood and middle age, and the scenes of Rocky and her children are incredibly beautiful and moving, but also grounded in a specific authenticity that can't be faked. The balance of humor and heart is absolutely perfect here: Rocky’s observations about her changing body and the people around her are pitch-perfect. Readers who like family stories will eat this one up, and won't want it to end. A standout and a gem of a novel.

This book was one of those odd scenarios for me where I can appreciate the style and the subject matter, but something just didn't really "click" for me. I think it was partially the narrative voice, partially an inability to connect to the characters on my part, and partially the inconsistent timeline of the "flashback" part of the structure. There's some interesting themes and raw honesty around aging as a woman and a mother, but ultimately it just wasn't for me!

This was so delightful and kept you interested! Definitely a wonderful book! The chapters kept you engaged and wanting to read more.

I don’t think I was the target audience for this.

There were too many virtue-signaly moments where it felt like the narrator was just trying to prove how woke she was, which translated into proving how woke the author was.

The plot was meh. I can see the nostalgic aspect of this one for mid-to-late life white women who identify as empty nesters.

Other than that I don’t have much to say. I rolled my eyes too much at the forced moments of wokeness.

Thanks to @harperbooks and @netgalley for both the gifted and digital review copies.