A review by beate251
Sandwich by Catherine Newman

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld for an ARC.

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!

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