With thanks for the early copy through Netgalley.

I don't even know how to attempt to describe this book. It is truly excellent.
I want to be part of this family, I see traits of my own family and my own experiences of raising children.
I laughed and I cried.

I loved it, thoroughly recommend.

Sandwich by Catherine Newman

Rocky and Nick have had a holiday in Cape Cod every summer since their children were very small. Rocky is now sandwiched between her adult children and her elderly parents, and feeling grief about both. This year they all get together as usual but there are secrets bubbling beneath the surface.

Wow, this is one of my favourite books ever and I will be encouraging/insisting everyone around my age (fifties) to read it! Catherine Newman is a GENIUS - what a smart, funny, poignant and so very relatable book... it's like she read my mind! Meg Wolitzer's 'Ten Year Nap' was my go to novel when my children were young and now that they are adults this book will take its place - I will be re-reading it lots! Very VERY highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

We All Want Impossible Things was one of my favourite reads of last year so I dived enthusiastically into Sandwich, I really enjoy Newmans style of writing and that lovely mix of humour and tenderness that she excels at.

Sandwich tells the story of Rachel ( Rocky) who is 53, menopausal and feels things deeply. The book is set over a weeks holiday in Cape Cod- with Rocky, her husband and her two adult children and her sons girlfriend and her husband elderly parents.

The eat, swim and enjoy doing all the things they’ve been doing for years- they have been visiting the same holiday rental for years and Rocky basks in the nostalgia of summers past whilst being struck down with anticipatory grief about future summers. Rocky feels all the emotions- something I identified strongly with and this is a quite lovely read at times.

Unfortunately it’s lacking much plot or substance. Some past traumas are revisited and there are some buried secrets which come to light but there was one element in particular , I won’t post a spoiler, that just seemed to be added for the sake of adding it.

It’s quite a short read and I think I would have enjoyed it more had there been more detail but overall a warm summer read about aging and family life . Maybe my expectations were too high for this one but I was a little disappointed when comparing this book to Impossible Things.

3- 3.5 stars

A moving and empathetic meditation on the complexities of family, ageing and love, I really enjoyed this book. The setting on Cape Cod is deliciously beautiful and underscores the book's message regarding the joy in the everyday. I feel like most people would be able to relate to an aspect of this book in some way and I found the author's voice sharp and witty. Perfect for a thoughtful beach read.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Fifty-something Rachel, also known as Rocky, feels things very deeply. In particular, she is torn apart by anticipatory grief for her children and parents, and wonders if she's passed on her anxiety to her daughter Willa, who has 'generalised anxiety disorder.' But Rocky knows that if she didn't feel things so strongly, life would lose some of its taste. In between exasperating and nurturing her family with sandwiches for the beach at Cape Cod (hence, along with 'sandwich generation,' the title) Rocky makes peace with a decision she made when the children were tiny, and its aftermath that echoes down the years.

I loved We All Want Impossible Things and this could almost be a sequel, as there were a few things the characters had in common such as a sensitive and random queer daughter, an unflappable husband and a heroine who can't help but make everything about herself, but at least realises she's doing it. I loved Catherine Newman's other book so much that I actually *didn't* want anything different - a return to the joys and pains of family, a few good laughs and 'grief is the price we pay for love,' is just fine with me.

The wonderful Catherine Newman's latest novel may not be long but she packs it to the brim with her exquisite winning brew, a finely tuned concoction of fun, humour, love, tears, authentic characters and their development, heartbreak, joy, grief, the all too real nature of marriage, families and the wonders of life itself. Rachel, aka Rocky, has been looking forward to the annual week long family beach hut holiday to Cape Cod, they have been going there for so many years. An ordinary family with soul, all of them resonate, with all their flaws, in this multilayered, and honest portrayal, the middle aged Rocky is married to Nick, with her now grown up children, Willa, and son, Jamie, with his girlfriend, Maya, plus there are her elderly ageing parents, and the issues that arise with getting older.

Rocky makes the sandwiches, whilst being sandwiched between the different generations. Rocky is now undergoing the menopause, the hot flushes and the rages, as she looks back on her life with her in depth reflections, poignant memories, covering areas like pregnancy, motherhood, the process of raising children, and the sacrifices. There are the changing aspects of parenting now they are adults, the enduring yet shifting relationships, the connections, and the conflicts. There is the loving desire to eternally imprint the present for the future, in the awareness and understanding that nothing stays the same, not the body, not the family, and the fallout from secrets.

There is a strong feel of the everyday to savour and appreciate, along with the conversations and banter taking place amidst the marvellous beauty of the location. I cannot express just how much I loved this, it is a moving illustration of what it is to be human, and the complexities, secrets, and imperfections that underpin families, and the inevitable changes and drama that can accompany them. This is a delightful read, with its astute observations and beautifully drawn characters, that will have you running through the whole range of emotions, laughter, and sobbing, sometimes simultaneously! Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

On a tender and moving portrayal of love, family and all its complexities. I read this book in one sitting and loved it. There’s so much that I can relate to and it makes me wonder how my parents and grandmother are feeling about their family these days. ⁣
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The premise of the book is about the main character Rocky (or Rachel), a woman with grown children and aging parents who’s looking forward to her family’s annual vacation at Cape Code. There’s the transporting and relaxing part to read - the bits about the beach and the sandwiches, but there are also the more intense part about the secrets that are revealed as you continue reading. I won’t spoil them for you.⁣
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Ultimately, I think the book explores the complex dynamics of having a family, being in a marriage and parenting in a realistic and relatable manner. I love how the characters are so real and imperfect, and it really makes you think about how it’s really about love. ⁣
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“…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.”⁣
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I enjoyed reading this book. You get the witty and moving aspects, which I think make a great summer read (although don’t let it stop you reading the book during any other time of the year!).

Overall a decent novel but not one of my favourites by this author. Will definitely keep reading her work though as she is incredibly funny

Rocky looks forward every year to the family holiday in Cape Cod. The house is run down, the two kids are now adults, her parents are becoming more frail as they get older and she herself is suffering raging hot flushes and mood swings from the menopause. Rocky is someone who loves perhaps a little too much, in that she spends a lot of time worrying about loss and anticipating grief. This time in particular, the break is momentous in several ways as secrets emerge, memories are rekindled and relationships affirmed. An engaging, bittersweet story of family, particularly motherhood and its joys and troubles, which I very much enjoyed. The characters are likeable but believably flawed, and there is a strong sense of how it is wonderful to see children growing up and finding their own way, but also how sad it is when they are no longer those little beings totally dependent on their parents. The writing is very sensual- you can almost smell the sea breeze, feel the coolof the pond water and taste the food being prepared, including the titular sandwiches. It was great to be a part of this family for a while.

I haven’t read We all want impossible things but I’ve heard amazing things about it so when I saw this I requested it immediately. Now I need to rush out and buy her first book too! As a woman of a *cough* certain age, I related to Rocky so hard. Although my kids are still much younger I’m also facing peri menopause and nostalgia for my youth and summer’s past, Sigh. Catherine’s writing is whimsical and beautiful, with humour and wit.i adored this book and will recommend it to everyone. Thanks Netgalley and the publisher,

I so enjoyed reading this book -it was a joy from start to finish and I can't wait to start telling people about it. I hadn't read Catherine Newman's previous novel 'We all want impossible things' but I am definitely going to, along with anything else she writes in the future.

It's a simple plot - a family holiday with (nearly) grown up children, their parents and their grandparents. A precious week in the year where our protagonist Rocky gets to spend time with her beloved children and her parents in their rustic, beach house rental in Cape Cod. And that's it, we get to see their week in Cape Cod where nothing very extraordinary happens, but it's the warmth and wit with which this book is written that makes it so special and the pages fly by. Things do happen but I don't want to give any spoilers (such as they are) so I would just urge readers to pick this up - it's a short book, but the family will stay with you a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

On the face of it this is just a description of a family's annual vacation week on Cape Cod, but it puts Rocky (Rachel) in the middle of events, an empty-nester sandwiched between her grown-up kids and her frail parents, slap bang in the middle of her menopause, which she describes with amusing bewilderedness (I screen grabbed quite a few pages here because I could relate so much, especially the word finding), while at the same time reflecting back to when her kids were young and she had two miscarriages - or were they? (Seriously, it wasn't hard to figure out with all the cryptic clues).

There really isn't much plot but you enjoy the closeness this family has and the love they feel for each other, even though they bicker all the time and lie to each other because they want to protect their family from uncomfortable truths about medical histories or past events.

It's a searingly honest account of what it's like to be a woman with all the issues that can entail.

I really enjoyed this perfect mixture of funny and sad -
all the different feelings that can exist inside you at the same time.

The only thing I didn't like were the descriptions of all those weird American sandwiches!

4.5 stars

This one wasn’t for me, I’m afraid. Very little happens in the week they spend on holiday on Cape Cod but that is usually fine for me – I like explorations of family relationships, uncovering of past secrets, a glimpse of someone else’s lives so this should have been right up my street. Unfortunately I just didn’t like the main character and found her really irritating despite being a similar age and time of life. Some of the side characters, especially her husband, feel very underwritten and it just didn’t quite hit the mark, I’m afraid.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

Based in America, this novel explores a family, Rocky , her husband Nick , their adult children and Rocky’s parents.

Each year, the family return to a beach rental on Cape Cod. This holiday home holds special memories of over 20 years of the family‘s lives. The changing dynamics of the family and the different stages of life are written with understanding and relatability.

Being of a similar age to Rocky. I could relate to many of the topics explored in the book. Growing older and looking back on how life had changed while still dealing with adult children and elderly parents with the added bonus of menopausal symptoms is something a lot of readers will emphasise with.

Written with understanding and humour this book was an enjoyable family based novel .

Another great read by Catherine Newman. Set against the backdrop of a week on Cape Cod, Sandwich is a heartwarming portrayal of family dynamics, motherhood and the menopause. The story follows Rocky, a relatable main character, as she deals with the challenges of getting older and her family growing up. It’s both a touching and humorous book that will make you think about your own family and life!
Highly recommended for readers who enjoy captivating and emotionally resonant reads

A glorious book. Just the most brilliant portrayal of family, life, motherhood, menopause, mistakes, regrets and joy. I think i loved it even more than We all Want Impossible Things. The pacing, the dialogue and the descriptive quality of one week on Cape Cod was all perfectly formed. Rocky is a relatable and believable protagonist. It will make you laugh and cry and think. Highly recommend.

Catherine Newman has a very specific writing style that moves away from the 'He said, she said' standard fictional dialogue with a narrative that requires focus. It's a style I've not seen to often but one I really enjoy.

In Sandwich, the story revolves around Rocky (Rachel) and her family as they spend a week in a beachhouse on The Cape. It's highly emotional, with Rocky reflecting on the fact that her parents and children are older and do not need her in the way they did 10 years ago.

It's a great read, although quite sad in places. Im not sure if I particularly like Rocky - she's a meddler and a little narcissitic - but her actions come from the heart and you know, as you read on, that she's got some major emotional baggage.

Like her previous novel, food plays an important role and the descriptions of the sandwiches alone had me salivating.

I also loved the scenery setting of Cape Cod. It sounds a beautiful place to visit and made me long to feel the sand under my feet and hear the ocean again (30 days and counting!)

A great read with some interesting subject matters, Catherine is an auto-buy author for me now, I can't wait to see what she does next.

Trigger warning: Miscarriage

Thanks to the publisher for approving my request on Netgalley and also to Alison for sending me a proof!

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This was a beautifully written gentle novel about Rocky and her family who spend their usual week long vacation at Cape Cod.
The book follows the interactions between Rocky and her calm husband Nick plus their two grown up children and Rocky’s aging parents.It is about menopause and past regret,a long term marriage,feeling the loss of your children’s childhood but embracing their present selves and about the realisation that your parents are getting old and more frail.It is about family and life and it’s myriad of emotions.It is about the seaside and being together,the old and the young and those sandwiched between..It made me laugh out loud especially at Rocky’s battle with the menopause symptoms(which I empathised with too having been through it)It also left me heartbroken and fully invested in this flawed but incredibly close and loving family.
A wonderful read

Back in 1931 RC Sherriff had his affectionate novel about the "drama of the undramatic", The Fortnight in September,, recounting in detail a family's annual trip to the same seaside resort in England published. This novel, Sandwich seems like a modern update based in America but delaing with the same landscape of describing an ordinary family and their ordinary hopes, worries, petty grievances and annoyance, love an daffection for one another as they have their annual weekly coastal holiday. Nothing of much import really happens. The book is comical in places. However, for me it lacks the charm of Sherriff's book, perhaps because it is contemporary. I have enough family minuitiae to deal with in my own life without reading about someone else's! The book is well written but didn't hit the mark for me in my present state of mind.

I loved We All Want Impossible Things so was excited to read Sandwich.
Every summer Rocky and her family- husband Nick, their adult children and Rocky’s parents spend a week in a beach rental on Cape Cod. In recent years they’ve been joined by their son Jamie’s girlfriend.
I absolutely loved this short novel which made me laugh so much but it’s also a moving and emotional read. I loved the Cape Cod setting, it’s a place where I spent a summer 35 years ago and I’d love to return. The author is so good at relationships and I particularly liked the portrayals of Rocky’s relationship with her husband, her daughter Willa and her parents. The descriptions of the menopause were brilliant, so true and made me laugh out loud. I loved spending time with Rocky and I felt the novel was over too soon. 4.5 stars
Recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.