I absolutely adored We All Want Impossible Things and was excited to see Catherine Newman had a new book coming. I didn't like Sandwich QUITE as much, but it was still an excellent read. The story of this family drew me in slowly and at first I was worried that there wouldn't be enough "meat" in this Sandwich (had to include the pun!). But the layers built as aspects of the past were revealed and as the past's impact on the current summer became clear. It felt a tad convenient to have all these aspects of motherhood (pregnancy, abortion, reproductive choices, menopause, adult children separating, aging mother) in one story, it also worked quite well. And, like We All Want Impossible Things, the writing as terrific - full of both poignancy and humor. Just like life.

I so enjoyed this story!
The title of this novel is perfect as the main character, Rocky is taking care of aging parents, her almost adult offspring and her husband so all have a wonderful life and have the best week of vacation each year!
But... Who takes care of Rocky?

I was reminded of my own childhood and my family as we always spent a week in the same beach rental year after year.
I really do appreciate my own Mom after reading this book.
Each day brought new memories, family situations and the "real" fear: "There are only 5 more days left. There are only 4 more days left etc".
This is an emotional, heartfelt, wonderful family and lovely week that everyone will surely like and most likely identify with at times.
Thank you to @NetGalley and to @Harper for this ARC and allowing me to read and provide my own review.
Well done!

This novel takes place over the course of one week, during a family vacation to a well loved, summer home in Cape Cod. Some secrets are revealed but it’s mostly a character study and a perfect picture of midlife as a wife and mother, “sandwiched” between your grown children and your aging parents. I could totally relate to the feeling of wanting to preserve the one week of vacation time you have together before everyone goes their separate ways to live their lives. The dialogue in this book is so real and laugh out loud funny. Newman’s candid and hysterical commentary on menopause was amazing and so relatable. Marveling at your grown children and enjoying them but always wistfully reminded of their childhood and those babies when you were the center of their world. I loved this book! It’s a slice of middle life served with a side of laughter, grace and love.

Thank you NetGalley & Harper Collins for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This review is also posted on Goodreads.

I went into this book with high hopes and they were absolutely met. I finished in just a few hours today because I just could not get enough. Every character is imperfectly perfect, the setting was beautiful, and the message one that will stick with you. I think women at any stage in life will be able to find themselves in the pages of Rocky's story, in some fashion.

Rachel (Rocky) and her family have vacationed in Cape Cod for a week every summer since her children were little. Now, with her children grown, and everyone in their family entering a new stage in life, they return for another week together. Rocky loves having everyone under one roof, and we get to experience this with her over their week long stay.

Rocky tells us her story, and it's one that is relatable in many ways. Her life has been full of love, growth, trauma, healing, and change. She reminds us that life is never perfect, no matter how hard we strive for it to be.

"Maybe grief is love imploding. Or maybe it's love expanding. I don't know. I just know you can't create loss to preempt loss because it doesn't work that way. So you might as well love as much as you can. And as recklessly. Like it's your last resort, because it is."

Sandwich is an amazing novel by Catherine Newman, author of one of may favorites, We All Want Impossible Things. Sandwich finds Rocky and her husband on vacation in Cape Cod. They have been coming to the same house every year since their children were babies. This year they will spend the week with their now 20-something kids and also are having a visit from Rocky's 80-somthing parents.

I so connected with this story as a lot of it could be mine as well, taking care of 20- somethings and dealing with the health concerns of parent. Author Catherine Newman does such a great job with character development, you really connect with and feel like you personally know these characters. The dialog is so real and funny and down to earth. I loved reading about the history of this family , as the week progressed we learned some family secrets. The ending was satisfying as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this marvelous novel.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

A beautiful little slice-of-life book in which not much really happens besides the extraordinariness of ordinary life. Very good writing, great dialogue. Some poignant moments mixed with humor. I will seek out more from this author.

Rocky has always looked forward to her family’s vacation at Cape Cod. This year her children are adults, but still young enough to need her, and her parents are getting older but healthy. She wants to value every moment of the vacation, but all families have secrets and a past.

Oh wow did I love this book. The characters are so perfectly imperfect, and I loved them all. I felt for Rocky and saw myself in her in ten years. This was really just the perfect read; full of love, tragedy, growth, a normal and imperfect marriage, and secrets. I cried at the end and this will be a difficult one to stop thinking about. Catherine Newnan is definitely a favorite author of mine after this and We All Want Impossible Things.

“What exactly are we doing here? Why do we love everyone so recklessly and then break our own hearts? And they don’t even break. They just swell, impossibly, with more love.”

Sandwich comes out 6/18.

A joyful, funny, introspective novel about one woman's attempt to make sense of her past decisions.

Rocky and her family love their vacation on Cape Cod. This year Rocky, her husband, two grown children and her son's girlfriend are having a marvelous time. Rocky's parents join them for a couple of days as well. Laugh out loud scenes are mixed with Rocky looking back to when the kids were little and how life was then.

A wonderful novel about motherhood, parenthood and love.

love love catherine newman - her books have been a joy and a balm to me, what reading should feel like (silly, heartbreaking, resonant). what a wonderful book!

I think I loved this just as much as We All Want Impossible Things. This is the most beautiful, funny, sad and true rumination on motherhood, being female, marriage, and being a daughter. I found myself laughing and crying, and also saying “God this is all so true.” Over and over again. Set over one week in a well loved vacation house on the Cape, Sandwich is the story of Rocky, her husband Nick and their two adult children. The parent child relationships are SO spot on, as is the marriage. Nothing is perfect but everything is beautiful, over and over again. Life is imperfect, and sometimes so painful, but there is so much beauty and love in everyone we keep close. What a beautiful book. I cannot wait to press this into the hands of the every woman I know.

Loved this story of a family that spends a week of vacation on the east coast. Women in their 40s and older can resonate with the main character.

I love this book so much! I have already raved about it to my coworkers at the bookstore. This book will be the perfect laugh-out-loud book for any woman in the stage of life with grown up kids and/or going through any of the crazy stages of menopause! We can all relate to the myriad of emotions while watching our kids starting out in their adult lives- pride in their successes, worry about their safety and happiness, and deep love for them. There is also the time spent with our aging parents which is both beautiful and exhausting. There is such a sense of appreciation for the time we get to spend with our kids and parents in those stages of life. All that is happening while our own hormones are wreaking havoc on our emotions and everything is changing in our bodies and.... sometimes you just have to LAUGH about it. And I laughed so much including at 4AM while reading this book!

An excellent read, humorous and deep at the same time. Highly recommended for readers of Nora Ephron.