Sandwich & Wreck by Catherine Newman

Newman, Catherine. Sandwich. Harper, 2024. 240pp. ISBN 9780063345164 $26.99   Newman, Catherine. Wreck. Harper, 2025. 224pp. ISBN 9780063453913 $26.99   ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 🌶️   If the recent snowy weather in New England has you longing for beach weather, here is an almost-spring respite as our days lean towards 40 degrees: Catherine Newman’s pair of novels about Rocky are meatier than a traditional beach read, but have the sun, sand, and Massachusetts trappings.   In Sandwich, we meet Rocky, a perimenopausal woman on her annual family vacation to the Cape, to the same rental they’ve had for years. Her adult children are joining her, and her parents are expected for the weekend. Hilariously funny and achingly vulnerable, Rocky’s witty observations on her changing body, her ferocious adoration of her husband and kids. Her son’s girlfriend is unexpectedly pregnant, so much of the novel is taken up with this, and with Rocky’s reflections as her childbearing years pass: of the children she has and their summers past; of the child she miscarried; and the one she chose not to have, that her husband doesn’t know was her decision, not a miscarriage.   Wreck takes place a few years later. Her son is married to the girl (if the outcome of the unplanned pregnancy was mentioned, I missed it); her father, still grieving the loss of his wife, if living with Rocky and her husband and daughter, and Rocky becomes preoccupied with the untimely death of a classmate of her son’s, whose car was hit by a train. She imagines losing one of her children, voyeuristically stalks the child’s mother, and attends the funeral as a mourner in the shadows. Rocky is coping with the death of her mother, and now has a weird rash that her dermatologist determines is a medical mystery. When it becomes evident that her son’s consulting firm may have advised the railroad on eliminating safety measures that could have played a role in the death of the young man, it’s another disaster.   Both novels have a distinct New England flavor (kettle ponds, frugality, and delicate, ancient, temperamental toilets) and a quintessential Cape Cod feel (clam shacks, beach roses, wet bathing suits and sandy beaches) alongside a uniquely Jewish lilt around neuroses, prestige, history, generational trauma, and tradition. Rocky’s take on the world is unique, and her relationships aspirational. Deeper than a traditional beach read, these are recommended for fans of Elin Hilderbrand, Elizabeth Berg, and Katherine Center.   I read Sandwich and Wreck through the Libby app, courtesy of my local public library.