At first glance, Sandwich by Catherine Newman looks like an easy, breezy vacation novel—the kind you toss in your tote for a week by the ocean. But beneath that placid cover is a deeply layered story about family, memory, and the invisible weight women carry through different stages of life. Reading it felt less like watching a plot unfold and more like being invited into one woman’s inner world—messy, funny, heartbreaking, and profoundly human.

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The Dustjacket

The cover of Catharine Newman’s Sandwich is placid and unassuming. It features an idyllic beachfront home with porch seating and towels laid over the deck railing. The word Sandwich is prominently displayed in white block letters across the center. The title is the most catching thing about the face of this book. It grabs you by the curiosity and begs you to find out more. A good thing that it does, because little else about this cover drew my eye. It’s well enough designed, but nothing is screaming look at me in a sea of other books.

Interior

The formatting of the book is appropriate. Days and chapters are clearly noted in a minimalistic way that suits the tone of the book. There are some time shifts throughout the story in Sandwich that are only noted by a bit of additional spacing that shows a change (generally from current moment to memory and back again).

Did the design affect whether I bought the book?

This book was a gift for my birthday, so I didn’t buy it. To be honest, it would not have been something that I would have picked for myself or likely even noticed at all.

Sandwich dives deeply into Rocky’s character. The entire book is about her perspective of her life right now and what has been in the past and might be in the future. The other characters have shape and nuance, but are not really the point of the book. Rocky’s point of view is a roller coaster ride exploring motherhood, menopause, and the sense of self.

Sandwich is written in a style that I don’t often encounter. It juxtaposes current events and the memories of the main character, and in dialogue often tells what the character doesn’t say as well as what she does. The style itself is almost jarring – but is also representative of the character’s state of mind, her struggles. The way that the prose is written helps the reader to understand the way that Rocky is experiencing these things.

Themes of motherhood overflow the pages of Sandwich. Newman really digs into what that means for this character, but thematically asks women if this is also their experience and aims to help them feel seen. The theme expands with the exploration of menopause, fertility, abortion, miscarriage, pregnancy, queerness, and sexuality. There is a lot to unpack in this tiny book that has almost no plot.

Very little happens in Sandwich, but a lot of intense women’s themes are examined and prodded at. The book was emotionally moving in a way that is hard to describe.

While I’m not quite at menopause yet, and only on the verge of an empty nest, I can easily see how I might feel much the same as the main character in Sandwich in a few short years. This poignant view of a time in life that is so rarely looked at left me feeling so many competing things.

While Sandwich was not a page turner or the kind of book you start recommending to everyone you meet, it is well worth the time to read, especially if you are a uterus-bearing individual. Bonus points if you are nearing menopause or are nearing an empty nest.

What do you make of the title of this book: Sandwich?

Let’s talk about it in the comments!

May your life be as full as your bookshelf and as long as your TBR list.

Happy Reading!