Sandwich is a beautifully written, heartfelt and funny novel about a family on a weeklong vacation on Cape Cod. I seriously can’t say how much I loved this book. It will definitely stay with me for a while. I laughed! I cried!

Rocky has looked forward to her family’s annual summer beach vacation for the past twenty years. This book takes place during that one week one summer. Rachel and her husband Nick are “sandwiched” between their kids who are growing up and not quite kids anymore as well as her aging parents.

There’s so much I want to say about this book but I also don’t want to give too much away! In this novel, there is so much Rocky is pondering and trying to come to grips with-- menopause, fertility/infertility, kids growing up, parents getting older and grief/loss. When Rocky is pondering her daughter Willa becoming an adult she thinks to herself,

“Are all those little girls nested inside you like matryoshka dolls? All those summers of the kids with their sticky hands and sticky faces and excitedness!” What a way to think of our children as they grow!

This is a recurring theme in this book. Rocky’s memories of her children when they are young bring us back to another time.

Nick’s advice to Rocky about her aging father coming to join them on vacation, “He’s imperfect. This is not new information. It’s okay. You still get to love him.” What good advice!

In this weeklong vacation, there are family secrets to be revealed and there are emotions—a lot of them. Sometimes we feel sorrow and anger and joy all at once. “How alive your heart to feel such sorrow!”

In short, read this book. You won’t regret it and you’ll probably highlight half the book like I did. If you’ve got kids who are growing up and parents who are getting older, this book is for you.

Thank you to the publisher for the digital ARC of this book in exchange for my completely honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5 Stars

Happy publication to Catherine Newman and Sandwich! Thank you to Catherine, Harper (@ and NetGalley ( @netgalley ) for allowing me to read an electronic ARC for an honest review!

📅 June 18, 2024 was the pub date for Sandwich. Be sure to pick up a copy from your local bookstore or Amazon! 📅

Wow! 🤩 Catherine Newman, you are an expert at crafting beautifully moving prose! This book is certainly a summer beach-time read but it addresses serious themes and tones of a changing family dynamic.

My favorite takeaway: The greatest joy in life for Rocky is to take care of her family and make them happy — her children, her husband, and her parents. On vacation she takes great pride in making specialized sandwiches 🥪 for each member of her family to be packed in a cooler and taken out for a sand filled beachfront lunch. She recognizes that her family dynamic is changing. This means she won’t be able to make sandwiches forever and that her family members are becoming more independent and don’t necessarily need to rely on her to make their sandwiches.

If this book were a gem (which it is), it’d be the largest, clearest and shiniest diamond!

Does mid life feel like you are stuck in the middle of a sandwich? Rocky loves her husband, but sometimes the menopausal rage takes over and she wants him gone. She loves her beautiful adult children but cries at the thought of losing them. And her elderly parents- still in love after all these years. What will happen when one of them goes? And every year a a summer week is spent in Cape Cod relishing the time with all of them.
Loved the humor and the angst and the importance of family.
But most of all, the message to enjoy life every day- because it's a gift.
Thanks to Net Galley and @harper for an early read.

I saw a lot raving reviews for Sandwich by Catherine Newman. As it happens, I was going to Cape Cod on vacation so I thought this would be a great read. Unfortunately I was not the right audience for this book — there are sensitive topics in this book that I wasn’t aware of and I couldn’t continue to read this. Thank you NetGalley and Harper for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I loved it! I loved how it flowed. I loved all the menopause talk. This was a great book. I want more.

Sandwich is a perfect name for this book. It describes the place this fictional family goes to for a week each summer, Sandwich, MA, it describes the custom made sandwiches the mom makes to take to the beach, and it describes the time of life when the parents are still worried about their young adult kids but also worried about their elderly parents. Every summer Rocky (nickname for Rachel), her husband Nick and their two children go to the same house on Cape Cod for a summer vacation. The house is too small and the toilet always clogs, but the beach is beautiful and this family is very, very close. This year Rocky and Nick arrive with 19 year old Willa, a college student who is very woke and opinionated, and Jamie, their 24 year old son who brought his long-time girlfriend Maya. For the last two days of the trip, Rocky's parents will join them at the beach house.

The book is organized by what happened each day on the vacation and along with hanging on the beach and cooking seafood, surprises and realizations are brought to the surface for Rocky. Rocky won't be for everyone: she is often vulgar in her speech and appears to have no boundaries when speaking to her kids. Rocky is 54 and going through menopause which is bringing with it hot flashes, mood swings and strange fears for her children and their safety. Rocky unleashes a lot of her anger on her patient, kind husband Nick and he seemed a bit of a saint at times as he never gets upset but always tries to help her get calm. During this week Rocky shares with her daughter a lot of information about her pregnancies, and past miscarriages and abortion. Some of this information is very graphic. Willa was a bit of an unlikable character as she constantly told her mother how she was supposed to feel, speak and think, although Rocky had no problem with her daughter being gay and was overall very liberal in her beliefs. I enjoyed hearing about the families traditions including going to the library book sale each year and an epilogue gave us an update on the future of this clan. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC for review.

Oh, my heart. SANDWICH by Catherine Newman kinda wrecked me, book friends. First of all, I just really love the title, cover, and overall premise of this novel:

“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳’𝘴 𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘙𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧-𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵—𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵, 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘙𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘺’𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘺. (𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰, 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦!) 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨—𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴, 𝘵𝘰𝘰.”

I’m not in this phase of my life just yet, but it’s nearing, and therefore, very intriguing to me. It’s no secret that I love reading about family life, motherhood, and marriage. Especially when it spans over decades, and showcases the messiness, craziness, and loveliness of it all. This is SANDWICH in a nutshell—so basically, my ideal book.

Rocky, the matriarch of the family is the star of the show, but the reader still gets to know the rest of the family members quite well. However, I really did enjoy spending so much time in Rocky’s head, learning about her past, and especially her musings on motherhood. I appreciated her humor, openness, and honesty.

READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY:

- Reflections on motherhood and marriage
- Character-driven stories
- Mature characters
- Empty nest syndrome
- Family drama and dynamics
- Insight on menopause
- Emotional reads
- Cape Cod setting
- Family vacations
- Mother-daughter relationships

If you’re a big fan of Ethan Joella’s work, or even Claire Pooley’s, then I think you’ll love Catherine Newman’s as well. They all write stories that are heartfelt and good for the soul.

SANDWICH is out now, and it gets allllll the stars from me! 5/5 stars!

I'll always enjoy a book about family relationships especially with a secret! This story is no exception.

For the past twenty years, Rocky and her family escape to vacation in Cape Cod for a week. This town has been the the site where the family shares sweet memories, sunny days and great meals. However, this summer Rocky is dealing with her aging parents and her grown children who have lived away from home for some time.

Rocky struggles with being in menopause and also she's an empty-nester. She also struggles with her body changes at this stage of her life which I believe many women can relate to. I found this book comforting in so many way and I realized I'm not alone. She lives in a constant state of worry, thinking worse case scenarios regarding her children and loved ones.

There is truly something for everyone in this book. Its a beautiful read with wonderful characters who are flawed and genuine. I enjoyed the touching story of family and love.

𝙎𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙬𝙞𝙘𝙝 by Catherine Newman (@harperbooks 240 pages 6/18) is the first title I picked up for my @booksparks summer reading challenge, and I’m so glad I did. I was further encouraged to read this by @bookshelfbybeckwith and her review.

I finished this heartwarming and humorous story in one day. From the opening scene dealing with a shaky septic system to its anecdotes on motherhood or menopause to the vivid imagery of the familiar scenic areas of Cape Cod, this book was delightful, relatable and funny.

Rocky and her family are on their yearly getaway to the Cape, and she finds herself sandwiched between her kids, her husband and her parents, but also firmly sandwiched in the middle of her life- reflecting on their past and anticipating the future. Their vacation is filled with memories, love, traditions, and secrets. As the story unfolds, so do many revelations. I laughed, nodded in agreement, and thoroughly enjoyed this gem of a novel.

This is the family drama that you’ll want to read at the beach this summer. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
#SRC2024 #GameSetRead #newbooks #summerreading #currentlyreading

Sandwich is a wonderful, poignant book about a family's annual trip to Cape Cod. This book has everything and I honestly can't see anyone not falling in love with this book. I was laughing throughout the book as I could relate to so much of what was going on. I was also crying at times thinking of some of the things we all have to deal with in our lives. This is my first book by Catherine Newman, but won't be my last. I am a lifelong fan now and look forward to reading more from her.

Rocky aka Rachel has looked forward to her family's trip to Cape Cod all year. It's her favorite time of year as the "kids" who are now young adults come back, her parents join them for a few days, and the week goes by way too fast. Rocky and her husband Nick have been renting the same cottage since the kids were toddlers. It has some issues, but they're familiar with. it, and don't want to change a thing. Rocky is at an age where she's halfway between her adult kids and her parents. She's still missing the kids living at home and she's worried about her parents as their age is showing more than it has before.

As a woman of a similar age to Rocky I could so relate to everything in this book. Rocky wants to control everything, keep her kids safe, keep her parents healthy, and none of us have that ability. This is such a great book. The scene in the cottage bathroom in the beginning kept me laughing for quite awhile. My family rented a place that had similar issues, but we loved it, and kept going back. Sandwich is the perfect summer read and I encourage everyone to read it! I rate Sandwich 5 stars with my highest recommendation. I'd like to thank NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishing for an advanced copy of Sandwich in exchange for a fair review. #Sandwich

Nice summer raead. Recommended to people who like Anne Patchett and Anne Tyler. Trigger warning for discussion of abortion.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC for review.

Trigger warnings: Miscarriage, abortion.

The dialogue and writing of this novel are a breath of fresh air, a very unique voice. Rocky is a woman older than me, in her mid-fifties, and is on a weeklong vacation with her grown children, husband, and her aging parents. In this novel, she reflects on their life and annual Cape Cod visits. Half of the novel really is her retelling of various lost pregnancies, so brace yourself if this is a sensitive topic. But the way this character so honestly thinks, feels, and talks is so different from what I usually read. I really enjoyed this, despite the sometimes-difficult subjects.

This novel centers on Rocky, a woman in her 50s as she vacations for the week with her husband, parents and young adult children. Sandwich is aptly named as it references the location as well as the sandwich generation, who care for their children and parents simultaneously. Rocky also makes a lot of delicious sounding sandwiches during the week. I found so much to relate to in the character of Rocky: the week away at the shore with children and parents, hormonal/menopausal rages, miscarriage, to name a few. The adage "it goes so fast", while irritating to hear during the infant and toddler years, is much too true now. My children are a bit younger than Rocky's, however I find myself already nostalgic for their younger years, and am experiencing anticipatory grief for our high schooler's departure in a few years. I love Catherine Newman's writing style and humor, and will read whatever she writes next. Thanks to NetGalley and and the publisher for an e-galley of this book. 4.5 stars

One of the best this year. DON"T miss this - especially if you have kids that have flown and grown!
THE BEST!!

So. This is not truly a beach book. Fair warning.

This is largely about the 54-year-old narrator’s journey through heavily symptomatic menopause. And I guess this is fine, but it’s presented as more of a sideline than something which will be mentioned about every five pages.

And while I appreciate that this extremely up close and personal account of menopause might be comforting to some, I’m not a person who has ever bonded with others over personal body-related stuff, and I mostly found it to be entirely too much in a book that presents itself as a family saga style beach novel.

There’s very little true atmosphere in the book, and I think it’s a strange choice to use a real beach town but fictionalize all of the locales in the area, as the author has done with Sandwich, Massachusetts.

And while I’m certainly far from prudish and think it’s beneficial to have open and honest dialogue with your children (especially if they’re older), the interactions between parent and adult child here mostly felt vulgar, and left me feeling I was embarrassed for the characters that I heard them speak so crassly.

I found this to be a delightful read, both funny and poignant. This family is so relatable and imperfectly realistic, They fight, they have secrets, they are quirky and they love each other desperately. Rocky is 54, menopausal, emotional and is spending the week in a cottage on Cape Cod with her adult children, aging parents and patient husband. She is the glue that holds the family together, she’s the sandwich generation, yet she often feels like she’s falling apart and she has secrets.

On the surface, this is a warmly humorous novel about a middle-aged woman sandwiched between her elderly parents and flown-the-nest children which would get a solid three stars. But because this novel is about me but is so much more articulate and thoughtful than I am while still feeling connected to me, I gave it four stars. Be warned - you may not feel the same way!

Set over the course of a week’s vacation in the same cottage in Cape Cod that the family has been coming to for twenty years, Rocky and her husband and their two grown-up kids cook (and a lot of sandwiches are made), eat, and talk, and do the things they have done since Jamie was a toddler and Willa was a baby. Jamie’s long-time girlfriend is with them and Rocky’s parents come to visit for a couple of days.

In seven days, we see how the family has grown together and what their lives are like now. Rocky is in the throes of menopause and is overflowing with rage and grief. There is a secret she has kept from everyone that emerges and there is catharsis. Jamie and Willa are the sort of grown-up children everyone would like: comfortable with themselves, loving to their family, secure in their place in the world. Rocky’s parents are heading into that territory that all parents must head into, but not quite yet.

I didn’t realize until I got to the acknowledgments that this is the same author who wrote Waiting for Birdy - the blog and the book. I adored this because my kids are a similar age to Ben and Birdy and it was a knowing laugh in the sometimes trudge of looking after young children. So many thanks to Catherine Newman and 4 stars all the way.

Thanks to Harper and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

What a small but mighty little novel this is! Newman's Sandwich follows an annual week long family vacation in Cape Cod for Rocky, a 54-year-old mother of two who is going through menopause with all of the feels surrounding that process, her husband, Nick, their two grown kids, Willa and Jamie, and Jamie's girlfriend, Maya. Told with humor and a lot of angst, Rocky confronts her change of life in so many ways, both physical and emotional, through the vacation and through flashbacks with the kids. I really enjoyed most of this book, though at times the angst was a bit much, especially around the kids who aren't kids anymore. Newman's writing is lovely and I will recommend this book widely. Thank you to Harper and NetGalley for the early access in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book is a reflection back on life. There are a lot of bittersweet moments in life and this book addresses them. The topic of termination of pregnancy is discussed so avoid if this is upsetting for you. This Is the first book I have read by this author and I hope to read more of her books. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

As someone who is currently headed toward the sandwich stage, I loved this novel. Catherine Newman has a way of writing just for me. Rocky and I are at least simpatico.....mindfully and artfully written. Highly recommend!