Sandwich

Sandwich by Catherine Newman (2024) 229 pages

Rocky and her husband Nick and their children have been taking a week's vacation in the same shabby little rental cottage on Cape Cod for years and years. She loves this time with her young adult children, who live away from home now. Rocky's relationship with her daughter is especially close. This novel chronicles their visit day by day one summer. 

Rocky is a perimenopausal 50-something, with hot flashes coming and going at all times, yanking her moods up and down with them. I resent it a bit that the most realistic depictions of women are in novels like this, which show all our foibles! So many times I laughed out loud: Newman's wording is so perfect. Rocky will agree in her mind with something her husband has said, and then when she opens her mouth to say it out loud, she is disagreeing with him!

Later in the vacation week, Rocky's parents join them at the cottage, and now we see where the title comes from - Rocky is the sandwiched generation and although her parents are kind and loving, they haven't been sharing their medical issues with her, which makes her feel concerned and extra squished by life.

Quick read. I liked it a lot.

Object Lessons

Object Lessons by Anna Quindlen (1991) 262 pages

Twelve-year-old Maggie and her parents, Tommy and Connie Scanlon, are the main characters in this coming-of-age story. Tommy's father, John Scanlon, is a force to be reckoned with. He is an outspoken Catholic, angry that the Mass is now said in English instead of Latin. His opinions are harsh and his sons and wife dare not cross him, although Tommy did that just once when he married Connie, his pregnant girlfriend. Connie feels that she has been the scapegoat of the family and avoids the Scanlons when possible. Maggie has been the most comfortable with her gruff grandfather, but when he becomes hospitalized one summer, the family dynamics seem to be in flux. Meanwhile, a developer is building new houses in a wooded area behind Tommy and Connie's house. The neighborhood kids can't stay away from the construction work. Maggie's friendships are changing, to her dismay. Her mother seems less available lately. Her parents don't seem to spend time together anymore. This book is a trip back in time, but its lessons are current for any modern time period.