Lead Review (Sandwich)
- Book: Sandwich
- Location: Cape Cod
- Author: Catherine Newman
Sandwich by Catherine Newman, novel set on Cape Cod.
Rachel (known in her family as Rocky) is in her later mid life and arrives at the rustic, slightly delapidated house they rent every year on Cape Cod. She is with her husband and grown-up children, and later in the week she anticipates the arrival of her parents. She is thus sandwiched between the generations, with a tendency to over function for the older couple and observe their growing fragility, and also keen to learn the ways of the younger crowd.
Their stay is only a week and the novel is divided into the days of the week, as the family hangs out together, eating, drinking and swimming, and doing the regular things they do each year. It feels like an incredibly familiar repeat of previous years. The reader gets a real sense of Rocky’s personality as she ploughs through her days. She has a wry sense of self, she is not slow to share the vagaries of a body that is the other side of the fertility cycle, and with the ageing process comes an anxiety and a slightly malfunctioning body.
The story is funny and heart-rending, as she has long discussions with her daughter, Willa, about the appropriateness of language when conversing with younger people. Many people will be able to identify with the exchanges.
The author shares the everyday routine but gradually it becomes clear that there are not only fresh secrets brewing but a darker one that is woven into the fabric of the family.
This is a novel of many things, primarily it is the story of Rocky and who she is today. It also incorporates the power of loss and what it means to be a parent, holding the responsibility of well-being for so many people. It is about familial attachments and about love and acceptance.
A novel that is worth your time.
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