WRECK by Catherine Newman comes out, well, yesterday...

 

I was so thrilled to get this one from NetGalley and I was not disappointed! Here is the review I wrote for NG -

The first half of this book had me over the moon with joy. How wonderful to see my dear friend Rocky from SANDWICH again! Her whole family is there, except for her mom who has recently died. Her father is living in “the shack” in the back of the house. Her daughter Willa is working in a lab and living with her folks and trying to deal with her anxiety. Her son is in the big city working as a consultant. When a former classmate of her son is killed by a train, Rocky becomes a bit obsessed with the accident and who is to blame. 

There are so many issues in this book that resonated with me - adult children living at home, aging parents, community tragedy and the curative properties of weed gummies. The second half of the book gets heavier as the family discovers a deeper connection to the train accident and as Rocky deals with medical issues, but the relatability of all the characters and the deep vein of humor don’t flag. 

I read this so fast because I love these people and wanted to fall hard into their lives. It is a rare book that can provide beautiful literary passages along with belly laughs and still feel just like real life. I can’t believe I am saying this, because Sandwich was one of my best reads of the year, but I think the richness of this makes it even better.