Catherine Newman (she/her)
Birdy NewmanCatherine Newman is The New York Times bestselling author of the memoirs "Catastrophic Happiness" and "Waiting for Birdy," the middle grade novel "One Mixed-Up Night," the kids’ craft book "Stitch Camp," the bestselling how-to books for kids "How to Be a Person" and "What Can I Say?," and the novels "We All Want Impossible Things," "Sandwich," and "Wreck." Her books have been translated into a dozen languages. She has been a regular contributor to The New York Times, Real Simple, O, The Oprah Magazine, and Cup of Jo.
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Awards: NEIBA Lifetime Achievement Award
Books:
Wreck
A Novel
Fiction / Literature
HarperCollins Publishers
October 2025
ISBN 9780063453913
Hardcover, 224 pages
The acclaimed bestselling author of "Sandwich" is back with a wonderful novel, full of laughter and heart, about marriage, family, and what happens when life doesn’t go as planned.
If you loved Rocky and her family on vacation on Cape Cod, wait until you join them at home two years later. (And if this is your first meeting with this crew, get ready to laugh and cry—and relate.)
Rocky, still anxious, nostalgic, and funny, is living in Western Massachusetts with her husband Nick and their daughter Willa, who's back home after college. Their son, Jamie, has taken a new job in New York, and Mort, Rocky’s widowed father, has moved in.
It all couldn’t be more ridiculously normal...until Rocky finds herself obsessed with a local accident that only tangentially affects them—and with a medical condition that, she hopes, won’t affect them at all.
With her signature wit and wisdom, Catherine Newman explores the hidden rules of family, the heavy weight of uncertainty, and the gnarly fact that people—no matter how much you love them—are not always exactly who you want them to be. More/less
Sandwich
A Novel
Fiction / Literature
HarperCollins Publishers
May 2025
ISBN 9780063345171
Trade Paperback, 240 pages
The instant New York Times bestseller from the beloved author of "We All Want Impossible Things," a moving, hilarious story of a family summer vacation full of secrets, lunch, and learning to let go.
For the past two decades, Rocky has looked forward to her family’s yearly escape to Cape Cod. Their humble beach-town rental has been the site of sweet memories, sunny days, great meals, and messes of all kinds: emotional, marital, and—thanks to the cottage’s ancient plumbing—septic, too.
This year’s vacation, with Rocky sandwiched between her half-grown kids and fully aging parents, promises to be just as delightful as summers past—except, perhaps, for Rocky’s hormonal bouts of rage and melancholy. (Hello, menopause!) Her body is changing—her life is, too. And then a chain of events sends Rocky into the past, reliving both the tenderness and sorrow of a handful of long-ago summers.
It’s one precious week: everything is in balance; everything is in flux. And when Rocky comes face-to-face with her family’s history and future, she is forced to accept that she can no longer hide her secrets from the people she loves. More/less
