Catherine Newman, I’m a super fan. You’re a marvel at writing slice-of-life books. 𝘞𝘦 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 was my favorite debut of 2022. It was a beautiful story of deep friendship, unconditional love, and carrying on while sinking into grief. Now, you’ve taken on a different chunk of life with 𝗦𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗪𝗜𝗖𝗛, and again, delivered a remarkable story.⁣⁣⁣
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At the heart of 𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘩 is Rocky, a wife, mother of two young adults, and the daughter of aging parents. She’s the very definition of a woman sandwiched between generations, but she’s also exactly where she wants to be. As they all arrive in Cape Cod for their annual vacation, Rocky wants everything to be perfect. She adores her kids and her parents. This week together is special to her. But, nothing ever goes quite as planned and Rocky herself, in the throes of menopause, adds in plenty of her own complications.⁣⁣⁣
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This may sound like a usual story, but I assure you it’s not. 𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘩 brims with humor, thanks largely to Rocky, but it also has depth, real emotion, hidden sadness and so much love. Once again Catherine Newman has shone a light on a time in life often not examined and I appreciate that. I also loved her wisdom in sharing just how difficult it can be to move from being the mother of children to being the mother of adults. She always gets it right. At a slim 240 pages, this is a book I flew through and highly recommend! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫⁣⁣⁣
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“It’s always so easy with grown kids! Okay, that’s not true. They struggle and stray and are sometimes heartbroken. They can bristle, take offense, go silent. They chafe against the very fact of you, the parents - against the judgment seeping out of you even while you’re busy impressing yourself with your own restraint. Still there’s so much joyful contentment…”⁣⁣⁣
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“This is how it is to love somebody. You tell them the truth. You lie a little. And sometimes you don’t say anything at all.”⁣⁣⁣
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Thanks to @harperbooks for an electronic copy of Sandwich.

I loved Newman’s last book and was excited to get an advanced copy of her latest. The premise was one in which I was immediately interested. The novel had its moments but the personality and overall being of the narrator, Rocky, was too much to handle. A narcissist who babies her adult children, understands life is moving on but continues to live in the past, mainly by dwelling on seemingly insignificant memories. She is a horrible wife and mother who has absolutely no boundaries. Her husband is a saint.

I cannot remember a time where a book made me feel like I was looking in a mirror, but Sandwiched did exactly that. Catherine Newman has so perfectly created a book about a middle age woman going through it all- being an empty nester and learning to parent her young adult children, watching her parents age and dealing with what she knows is coming next, and figuring out how she relates to her husband now that it’s just the two of them at home.
Every summer for the last 2 decades Rocky and her family has rented the same cottage on Cape Cod and the one week they spend there is the one week Rocky looks forward to all year. This year is no different except for maybe Rocky’s erratic hormonal mood swings going from happiness to rage or sadness in a blink of an eye. This summer is different because while Rocky is present, she’s also in the past reminiscing of summers when her children were young, her parents were healthy, and the one unthinkable thing she did of which she’s never spoken.
I actually gained so much insight into myself through the pages of this book. I to am a middle aged woman who is learning to parent my young adult children. At the same time I am watching my parents age (very gracefully, but age nonetheless) and I’m filled with memories from both when I was little and my children were little. Also, the mood swings Ms. Newman writes about are absolutely no joke. I have found myself angry and crying over things that normally wouldn’t elicit such emotion from me.
While this goes deep into the topic of child loss I really think this is the book every middle age, perimenopausal or menopausal woman needs to read so that she knows she isn’t crazy, she’s just in a new stage of life.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper for an advanced copy of this. I am so sorry took me so long to get to this, but it was well worth the wait. Sandwich hit the shelves on June 18th.

Though I’m somewhat beyond the “sandwich” years that Rocky, the menopausal main character of this title is experiencing, I could fully relate and thoroughly enjoyed this book. Rocky 20-something aged children, their partners, and her parents all come together for their long held tradition of a summer’s week on Cape Cod. Each day sees old traditions repeated along with the changes in the interactions between the generations. As the old cliche goes, “you’ll laugh, you’ll cry.”

This won’t be for everyone, and it wasn’t totally for me, but if you’re a mom of young adults, or feeling that stage of still raising kids, while trying to let go some, while also having aging parents, you may find something in this novel that speaks to you. I found some of it off-putting, but there were some sentences, paragraphs and reflections that were absolutely dazzling. Especially on the subject of motherhood.

I am not sure why i didnt like this book. I am a mother myself and just could not connect with the main character. I felt like the plot was all over the place and i struggled to get through this

OMG, I don't know where to start. I wanted to be on Cape Cod with Rocky and her family. I am unsure if it helped or hurt that I brought my youngest to college the week I read this book. It was an amazing story and the motherhood-menopause-marriage-family-dynamic in this book was outrageously great, and is the reason that I am exhausted right now because I had to stay up late to finish the book last evening.

Sandwich is a wonderful small town on Cape Cod, and I honestly thought that I was there with the family. It made me think about and reminisce about summers when I was a child and we stayed in a different small town on Cape Cod. Rachel's relationship with her parents, her children, her husband, her son's girlfriend....I could relate to each of these.

To any woman who is on the verge of menopause, you will enjoy this. It was really easy to relate to Rachel as a young 50-something mother. You will not be disappointed. This book was an ARC, given to me in trade for my honest review.

This book.......I mean, I know I am a woman of a certain menopausal age but I've honestly never read something that I could identify with as much as I did with this story. It was funny, heartbreaking and such an incredibly accurate slice of life for so many women with kids who are growing up, parents who are aging and marriages that are comfortable with partners who are home (but also annoying). I loved it-and I made some friends read it who also loved it!

Simple story about a family vacation thru the eyes of the mother. Family dynamics and secrets
abound with the two children their significant others, the grandparents and the husband.
I read the book because everyone seemed to be talking about it and I thought it was good
but not worth the hype.

🎁📚𝓐𝓡𝓒 𝓑𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀 📚🎁
4.75/5🌟

I adored Newman’s last book 𝐖𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, so I was thrilled to score an advanced readers copy of her new novel. And it didn’t disappoint!

I related to main character Rocky on many levels - she’s 54 like me, and has children close to my kids’ ages (early 20s). She suffering from some wicked symptoms of menopause (unlike me luckily!!) but I still could understand her feelings, reactions and behavior.

𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐰𝐢𝐜𝐡 is about entering a new and not always pleasant phase of life, it’s about the effusive and overwhelming love and nostalgia we have for our children and their childhoods, and our exhilaration about the independent and exceptional individuals they become. Newman also explores the regrets and sorrows which recede but never quite leave us and the secrets parents keep from their children

I loved Rocky’s relationships with her aging (obviously) parents, her doting and incredibly patient husband and her unique children. I think if the banter hadn’t been so overly whip-smart and the relationships with her children seemingly boundary-less, it might have been a full 5🌟 read, but I just couldn’t relate to those aspects.

This book is sweet Jolly Rancher hard candy of joy that dissolved too quickly, it was so compulsively readable. This is a one sitting read, especially if you have a nice chunk of time to immerse yourself. It had a nicely wrapped-up ending which I always enjoy. I definitely recommend this one, especially for women approaching and in their 50s and beyond.

𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐰𝐢𝐜𝐡 was released on 6/18/23. Many thanks to @netgalley and @harpercollins for the ARC in exchanged for an honest review.

#biblophile#stephsalwaysreading#arcbookreview#bookstsgrammer #bookstagram#tbrlist#whatshouldireadnext #catherinenewman#sandwichthenovel#netgalley

This book is incredibly beautiful. I loved Catherine Newman's first book and this was just as good. She writes about difficult human experiences with so much detail, nuance and beauty. This is a book I know I'll come back to again and again throughout my life and I know I'll be recommending it to friends and family time and time again.

This book was pretty boring and was difficult to finish. I might not be the right audience for this book either! Thank you, NetGalley.

"This week is proving to be very revelatory," Willa says to me in the parking lot, and I say, "Isn't it!"

This lovable book had just the right mix of humor and pathos, life and death, sand and sun, and, yes, sandwiches.

I loved this book! I am a fan of Catherine Newman’s writing and Sandwich did not disappoint. I read it while on a family vacation which really elevated it further for me. I think she is a whiz at dialogue and family dynamics. Parts of this book make me laugh out loud, others brought tears to my eyes. Brava!

There aren't enough books written for the "sandwich" generation - those taking care of their children and their aging parents. Such a beautifully written book that I'll be thinking about for a long time.

This book is absolutely everywhere and i was so excited for the advanced reader copy from NetGalley. I adored Rocky, her family and their relationships with each other. This book made me laugh, tear up, smile fondly and grimace in depressed embarrassment. I loved it all and think it would’ve been 5 stars for me if i was a decade older. A must read for the sandwich generation. TW: miscarriages, abortion, illness of parent, death of parent.

0 stars.
I was really disappointed in this book since it is a popular book this summer. It was too political with abortion being a main theme. There was so much in there for shock factor and nothing to do with the story.

Set over one week on cape cod the story of Rocky’s journey is compelling and relatable. She is sandwiched between her nearly grown children, at once proud of them and also crushed by the extent of her love- and her aging parents who she still needs fiercely. As the vacation unfolds Rocky finally comes to terms with grief, guilt, love, worry, and change. The simplicity of the story and the immense relatability of the main character make this a must read for anyone experiencing this transitional time in life

Tender love letter to marriage and motherhood for anyone who has been a mother or who has a mother. Perfect beach read. Be prepared for laughter and tears.

I loved this book so much, on multiple levels. I loved Catherine Newman's previous book, We All Want Impossible Things, so I went in to this one knowing it might break my heart -- and it did, but in a soft and loving way.

Rocky and her husband have been traveling to the same Cape Cod house with their two kids for almost 20 years. Now that her kids are grown, with lives of their own, this time together is all that more precious.

This book deals with some heavy topics and I would check content warnings if needed. I think the way it's dealt with is very well done, and very realistic.

As someone very much in the sandwich generation -- raising my young children while also dealing with aging parents -- those parts of the book really spoke to me.

I love Catherine Newman's writing, I love her sense of humor and all of Rocky's quirks and anxieties. I loved all the characters and all the flashbacks to her kids at different parts of their lives.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!