“In this utterly joyful standalone novel, Newman brings back the beloved star of her summer smash hit Sandwich. But instead of braving Cape Cod’s overpriced clam shacks, she’s cozied up for fall in her Massachusetts home, desperate to get to the bottom of her freaky new rash, a mysterious local train accident, and—just maybe—how to live a life of meaningful love in a world of brutal impermanence." - Oprah Daily, "25 Best Books of Fall 2025"
“Catherine Newman has my heart . . . . Newman is my dream writer, and she channels the perfect cocktail of humanity into her characters, especially Rocky. Rocky is funny and dry and emotional and sometimes crazy and always loving, so loving, of her family, even as she struggles and panics. It’s a gift to get to be on the quest with her, and learn alongside her, about how to be alive, to be a person, to be good, to be worthy." - LitHub, "Most Anticipated Books"
"Wreck is an emotionally packed reminder that much of our lives is spent with spouse, kids and parents. And that if you can pick between worrying about what’s coming and living authentically in the moment, you should let your heart settle where it grows the most—and that might just be your living room." - The Washington Post
“If you loved Catherine Newman’s summery escape to Cape Cod in Sandwich, trust that you’ll equally relish Wreck’s trip to an autumnal Western Massachusetts . . . . Newman’s sparkling humor and heart are on full display as the middle-aged Rocky spirals over a local tragedy that could have impacted her loved ones (but didn’t) and a strange rash she can’t seem to cure with a cursory Google search. Newman zooms in on these ‘small,’ everyday sagas in a manner that reveals them as the huge, life-shifting events they really are. The author has a knack for depicting how pain, joy, and uncertainty all too frequently intermingle—and is eager to make readers laugh in spite of it all.” - Elle
“Rocky is obsessed with a local train crash and her own undiagnosed illness in this honest, hilarious and heartbreaking follow-up to Sandwich. You’ll savor the prose from the very first line.” - People
"If you liked Sandwich, you’ll love Wreck, its warm, witty sequel . . . . Some characters are just too good to let go after a single book: Olive Kitteridge, Hercule Poirot, Tom Sawyer. And now, in Wreck, Catherine Newman has given Rocky, the sharp-witted, neurotically doting mother who narrates her delicious 2024 novel, Sandwich, a repeat engagement . . . . Wreck is even funnier, yet also more earnest in its explorations of life's fundamental impermanence.” - NPR.org
"Newman excels at showing how sorrow and joy coexist in everyday life. She masterfully balances a modern exploration of grief with truly laugh-out-loud lines . . . . A heartbreaking, laugh-provoking, and absolutely Ephron-esque look at the beauty and fragility of everyday life." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"As protagonist Rocky reckons with a local tragedy, she learns that neither cyberchondria nor wit (and she’s hilarious) will prevent life’s progress." - Los Angeles Times, Most Anticipated
"A winning blend of pathos and humor . . . . [Rocky] is also a captivating protagonist whose wry observations and commentaries about matters of life and death keep us turning the pages . . . . Bittersweet gem of a book."
- Boston Globe
"A touching new novel about love, loss and the messy beauty of family life . . . . With warmth, wit, and honesty, Wreck captures the laughter and tears of ordinary life in a way that feels both timeless and true." - Good Morning America
"There were about three laughs per page in Sandwich and there are at least that many again in Wreck . . . . It’s a wise book, in addition to being a funny one." - Minneapolis Star Tribune
“I didn’t know I needed a sequel to Sandwich until the news of this release hit my inbox, and boy am I overjoyed. I read this book at the tail end of the summer, and while it’s hard to describe what actually happens, I did find Newman’s chapters and vignettes heartwarming, gripping, and enjoyable to read. It follows Rocky and her hilariously sweet family as they come to terms with a tragic accident in their neighborhood. You’ll understand the magic once you read it. Trust me.” - The Skimm
"Newman brings her signature wit and fast-paced banter to this heartfelt sequel." - Booklist
"A warmhearted story about the fragility of life and the bonds of affection that help us weather its most difficult moments . . . . Newman is unafraid to roll up her sleeves and wade into the blessed messiness of family life, presenting Rocky and her clan with both honesty and tenderness in all their complex ordinariness . . . . Wreck’s life-affirming conclusion will leave readers grateful for this helping of Rocky’s gentle wisdom and, almost certainly, hungry for more." - BookPage
“Endorsing a new Catherine Newman novel feels a bit like endorsing puppies or chocolate cake. It’s a new Catherine Newman novel. Of course you want to read it. Wreck is a delight. What an absolute joy to be reunited with Rocky and her family, the characters we all fell in love with in Sandwich. Newman’s prose is laugh-out-loud funny. It’s also profound. I underlined so many passages in this treasure of a novel. It brought about that conundrum that the best books always do: I couldn’t stop reading, even though I didn’t want it to end.” - J. Courtney Sullivan, New York Times bestselling author of The Cliffs
“Wreck is the kind of book that pulls up a chair, pours the wine, and dives deep—equal parts hilarious, sharp, and achingly sincere. It’s like spending hours with the friend who sees your mess and loves you more for it. I didn’t just read it—I felt known by it. A luminous, laugh-out-loud triumph by Newman.” - Alison Espach, New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding People
"It’s been said that life is relationships, the rest is just details. Catherine Newman is a master of both, making what on the surface may seem like quiet, humorous work sing with shocking profundity. I hope she writes a hundred more books about Rocky and her family. I would read them all." - Steven Rowley, New York Times bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus
"Catherine Newman’s new novel is a rare thing: both laugh-out-loud funny and deeply attuned to the quiet devastations of illness, grief, and family life. In Rocky, a woman mourning her mother’s death while grappling with her own changing health, Newman gives us a narrator whose fierce intelligence and generous heart make even the most ordinary moments shimmer with grace. I read it in a state of recognition and delight—moved by its warmth, its candor, and its cleareyed celebration of life’s wild transience, and the vulnerability of our bodies." - Meghan O'Rourke, New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Kingdom
"How comforting, how satisfying, and how delicious to be once again in the world of Rocky and her family where everyday life bangs against potential disaster and somehow muddles its way through. Infectiously funny and surprisingly moving, Wreck reminds us that we are each, in our way, trying to make sense of the big things with some very small tools—and that love in the end is the thing that saves us." - Rachel Joyce, internationally bestselling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
“If you’re looking for a book that will make you laugh and cry in equal measure, Catherine Newman’s Wreck delivers!" - Woman's World
"I loved it! A gorgeously human, tender-hearted, and delightfully funny exploration of the anxieties that beset all of us, and the loving relationships and irrepressible joy that gets us through." - Nussaibah Younis, internationally bestselling author of Fundamentally
"Catherine Newman taps into our own hopes and fears. But she does so with incredible warmth and humor. Rocky is the kind of mother we all aspire to be. One who somehow finds the strength to push through her own challenges to have the energy she needs to tend to those around her. Few of us really succeed, but trying is often good enough.” - Woman Around Town
"Occasionally a writer comes along who seems able to turn every domestic triumph and tear, every dinner concocted, co-sleep endured and I.P.A. swallowed (or not)—in other words, the ordinary stuff of first-world life—into material rife with wit, humor and soul-bearing openness. Catherine Newman . . . is that sort of writer. . . . Impassioned, crackling, vividly detailed writing and utter hilarity. . . . If you want to laugh out loud, tear up and rush to pull out a book in the 35 seconds between subway stops, this sweet, savory, tenderhearted Sandwich fits the bill, and goes down like (bread and) buttah." - New York Times Book Review on Sandwich
"Sandwich is joy in book form. I laughed continuously, except for the parts that made me cry. Catherine Newman does a miraculous job reminding us of all the wonder there is to be found in life." - Ann Patchett, New York Times bestselling author of Tom Lake, on Sandwich
“If you like my novels, you will love love love this. . . . I stand in awe, it’s just perfect.” - Elin Hilderbrand, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Swan Song, on Sandwich
"I loved this little beautiful book. You could put it in your beach bag and read it in one sitting. I did . . . . The ultimate beach read." - Jenna Bush Hager on Sandwich
“A beach novel to pass on to your best friends, no matter what the season.” - O, the Oprah Magazine, "Best Books of 2024,” on Sandwich