This was a stunning, nostalgic, funny and melancholy book. I highlighted so many great comedic moments. The book really resonated with me as someone who is navigating the insult of menopause as my teen becomes his own hormonal independent self and as my parents age with health scares of their own. I will definitely be reading more my Catherine Newman!

Being perfectly sandwiched in age between her aging parents and her adult children, the main character, Rocky, exists in a liminal state of being that gives her a unique perspective on motherhood.

This was lovely. The voice was so fresh, funny, real, and relatable. Newman really captures the nuance and complexity of being a mom, particularly the way multiple emotions and desires coexist simultaneously at all times, and the way you are both entirely your own person yet also entirely not. It's a beautiful, bittersweet story that manages to be both light and heavy, a beach read and a family drama. Set during a summer beach trip in Cape Cod, it had me feeling nostalgic for New England and hankering for a lobster roll.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper for the eARC.

What can I say? SANDWICH is a book that will stay with me for a long time. Newman manages to beautifully encapsulate the emotional rollercoaster that is the life of a middle-aged woman in this brief novel spread over a week in Cape Cod. Once a time of life grossly overlooked in literature, this beautiful story brings it front and center. Will happily hand sell this title!

🥪Rocky, in the midst of menopause, is with her family for a week at the modest home on Cape Cod that the family has rented for more than a decade. With her is her husband, her two kids in their 20s, her son’s girlfriend, and her parents who are both in their 70s.

🥪During the week, the family basks in its usual routine with some surprises and some secrets are revealed.

🥪My thoughts: This is my favorite book that I have read this year. It gets middle age and motherhood right. I loved everything about it — the writing, the story, the intention behind every word on the page. This is a masterpiece and I will be handing out to my friends.

Thank you, Catherine Newman. I’m not yet at the stage of grown children (my oldest is heading to 9th grade and my youngest to K), but you hit menopause in a way that I have never seen it in literature. So right. I read many lines aloud to my husband, but I don’t think he found them as amusing and spot on as I did. But I’m not alone! I never thought of the description a “husk,” but oh man! Perfect. 🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽

I loved this so much! Newman’s writing about family, friends and the small moments is unmatched. The way she takes serious and reflective topics and gets a chuckle of them? Genius. And wonderful reading. I both LOLed and teared up several times. Will never stop recommending!

Review will be posted on 8/12/24

Each year, for the past twenty years, Rocky's family rents a ramshackle cottage on Cape Cod. They have been doing this since the kids were little and now they are in their twenties. Rocky, in her fifties, has a lot of thoughts regarding life, marriage, her aging parents, her adult children, and what it means to be a woman. Summer at her favorite beach house is the perfect time to think back to summer's past and the secrets that she is still harboring. One thing Rocky knows is that parenting is all about constant change and this summer reminds her of that even more so. Catherine Newman's Sandwich is one of the best books of the year and if you are a parent or a woman in your 40s or 50s, it shouldn't be missed. It should be required reading!

I adored Rocky from the start. Her witty sense of humor, her outrage at the injustice of things women must endure, and her dedication to her children made me really enjoy her in Sandwich. I think so many women, whether their children are grown or are still young, can relate to all of Rocky's joys and frustrations. Sandwich is filled with flashbacks to when her children were young, which was so relatable and so very laughable at times. In fact, I found myself absolutely cackling with her observations on menopause, marriage, and young children. It felt therapeutic in the sense that I can say no one has written, that I've read in the past twenty years, as honest and raw about what it means to be a mother, a daughter, and a wife.

But Sandwich isn't all sunny day on the Cape with your family. It includes Rocky coming to grips with her issues as well as a secret she has kept hidden for years. So, the novel does tackle some difficult topics, but it covers them so well that it never feels heavy since the hefty topics are in between lighter, laugh-out-loud moments.

Sandwich is easily one of my favorite books of the summer, if not the best book of the summer. Newman's writing is outstanding and it reminded me of Patchett in that she can take a slice of life moment and make it so profound. Sandwich should not be missed and I toggled back and forth between the audio, which was narrated by Nan McNamara, who did not disappoint.

My favorite quote from Sandwich that had me nodding: "And this may be the only reason we were put on this earth. To say to each other, I know how you feel. To say, Same. To say, I understand how hard it is to be a parent, a kid."

Is Sandwich on your summer TBR list? Have you read it? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Sandwiches are a central theme of Catherine Newman's Sandwich.

54-year-old Rocky is making delicious sounding, made-to-order sandwiches to feed her family for a day at the beach.

She's staying in Sandwich, Massachusetts, a town on Cape Cod, in a cabin her family has rented for a week every summer for the last 20 years.

She is quite literally sandwiched between two generations, that of her aging parents, and her children, who, in their early 20s are now launching adult lives of their own.

This year, feeling the effects of menopause and her family's aging dynamics, she spends time flashing back to previous visits, contemplating the passage of time, her present and future, as well as a long buried secret.

I had the absolute pleasure of reading Sandwich while on a family beach vacation of my own. In my 30s with a teen and a tween I am somewhat sandwiched between the Rocky of young children and the Rocky of adult children. Her flashbacks to vacations of sticky sand-crusted toddlers who become an extension of your own physical self whether you want them to or not feel much closer to me than her present days with adult children who will return to their own lives at the end of vacation. Though, in truth, as I read this book in a single afternoon, largely uninterrupted as my now competently skilled children entertained themselves swimming nearby in the ocean and pool, that future is much closer to becoming my reality than I'll readily acknowledge.

Sandwich is the embodiment of my perfect beach read: a well drawn beachy setting I wanted to crawl into, a living, breathing, relatable family drama, shot through with humor, heart, and insight, weighed down with enough substance to really make an impact.

A thoughtful exploration of metamorphizing motherhood perfect for summer reading. Recommended for fans of Tom Lake.

Rachel, nicknamed Rocky, travels for one week to Cape Cod, renting the same cottage they have every year, with her husband Nick, their adult son and his girlfriend, adult daughter and parents. As Rocky is sandwiched in between her young adult children and parents she reflects on her life as she is in the throes of menopause. Rocky is very emotional and during the week secrets are revealed, memories discussed and more memories are made.

Newman’s writing is engaging yet different. It did take me a little while to get used to and I needed to reread a few times to fully absorb. However, the themes were so relatable for me and The characters were realistic.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Books for the opportunity to read this advanced copy.

Thoroughly enjoyable book. I don't think many under 40 will appreciate it though. It's a slower story of a mother who is back together with her grown children on vacation. It's slower, but beautiful.

Wow! This is my first 5 star read of the summer!

I waited to read this one until I was on Cape Cod myself, where the novel is set. Like the main character, my family and I visit the Cape each summer. This novel follows a mother (Rocky) over the course of her week-long vacation, with each section corresponding to one day of the trip, counting down from the beginning to the end. It also flashes back to the previous years on the Cape, when her children were young. The family has been vacationing on the Cape for two decades, so her kids have now become young adults.

I am a younger than the MC, but I still loved and connected with this story about marriage and motherhood. I can also relate to being the "sandwich" generation balancing kids and aging parents with health issues. I appreciated Newman's words of wisdom and it felt like I highlighted every other page!

Catherine Newman was a new-to-me author and I can't wait to check out her other work. I'll definitely be recommending this one to everyone I know! Thank you to NetGalley and Harper for an arc of this book in exchange for my review.

Sandwich is just the story of one family on vacation for a week - same as they do every year. But it’s also about love and grief and the things we keep from each other and what we share. I laughed and cried. I feel so grateful that I read this right before heading to the beach with my own family for a week - same as we do every year.

“And this may be the only reason we are put on this earth. To say to each other, I know how you feel. To say, Same. To say, I understand how hard it is to be a parent, a kid.” - Catherine Newman

Thank you to Harper and Netgalley for the free ebook to review. I also listened to the audiobook which was excellent.

Voicey slim novel taking place over a one week family vacation on Cape Cod, Rocky is a middle life Mom hosting her young adult children and elder parents in the same house they have been renting for the past twenty years.

I loved the family openness in contrast to its secrets, its happiness in contrast to its sadness. Rocky was a delight and the descriptions of their time on the Cape were spot on. Sex and sexuality are openly discussed between generations of family members which is often taboo.

I’m ready to plan a trip for my own children and parents at a house on the Cape!

Reading Catherine Newman is like spending time with the quirkiest and most fun members of your own family and friend group. Her characters leap off the page, fully-formed, and when you're done with the book, you wish you had more time with them--kind of like having to say goodbye at the end of a week-long vacation. Sandwich is both simple and complex, covering empty-nesting, generational trauma, summers at the beach, reproductive rights, nostalgia, family dynamics in a small space, and so much good food, amongst other things. The simplicity comes from the genuine warmth and relatable relationships, and how everything boils down to one simple thing: love. Which is one simple word I could use to describe my feelings for this book.

I ADORED this book! I really loved Newman's ability to capture middle age and all the ups and downs of dealing with aging parents and adult children. I loved the nuanced look at terminating pregnancy and dealing with miscarriage. Her view of long-term marriage was refreshing as well. The setting was perfectly captured, I could smell the sea air!

I absolutely loved this book. The writing style was so different than anything that I have picked up in a while.

Even though I am a bit younger than the demographic that this book is aiming for, I absolutely loved it. I would have finished this book in 1 day if I had not been on a trip! I loved the nature of the story and the way that Rocky talks about love for her children and the difficulties in life that women face. I found myself highlighting so many passages.

This is a great summer read that also tackles some deeper topics for women. It takes place over the span of one week while their family is renting the same house in Cape Cod that they rent every summer!

I will be recommending this one for the rest of the summer!

What a fun read. Perfect for those experiencing midlife, those juggling adult kids and parents, navigating grief, set against a week in Cape Cod. I laughed, I sighed, related to so much. Thank you NetGalley and Harper for the opportunity to read this eArc. 3.5/5 ⭐️

Thank you Netgalley and Harper for an ARC of this book. I was intrigued when Oprah put it on her summer book recs and am so glad I read it since I honestly didn't know what to expect! Rocky is an empty nester who has been coming to the same Cape Cod cottage with her husband and two children since they were infants. She looks forward to her week at the Cape all year long since she gets quality time with her children who have their own lives now. Rocky puts so much thought and effort into every sandwich she makes her family because it symbolizes to her a simpler time filled with happy memories that we often take for granted. Trigger warning.. there is a lot of talk about miscarriages and abortions, but overall the book is a love letter to the love a mother feels for her children.

A short novel filled with poignant observations about family life, marriage and menopause. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to readers who like novels about the simple joys of life.9

What a strange little romp of a novel. The narrator, Rocky's, point of view is interesting and unique. She makes crass jokes, and some conversations with her adult children are a little off-putting, but her story telling of what it is like to be a young mother is spot on. I was particularly struck by the notation that when your children are small - you can touch any part of them - and when they get older - you can touch none.

I loved how the story unfolded and showed the intimate ways of family love. It read like a meeting a new friend and learning all about being imperfect and loving. I want to read more stories by this author! Perfect read for anytime. Recommend.