LoveReading Says
Absolutely glorious! The highs, lows, and all the in-between bits of life soak into the pages of this compelling novel. You can easily read Wreck as a standalone, yet I wholeheartedly recommend starting with the memorable and eloquent LoveReading Star Book Sandwich as this introduces you to Rocky and her family.
Here we follow a year, from life changing events through to the small details that almost don’t matter, yet actually really do because they form an essential part of the whole. I love the way Catherine Newman writes, she pulls and twists and creates a quiet vibrancy within her characters. Each word on the page feels as though it is necessary, and forms an authentic reality.
It felt as though this book was a part of me, and I recognised the thoughts and feelings it evoked even as I explored the unknown. Of course this moves in to join its sister as a LoveReading Star Book, and also a Liz Pick of the Month. Amusing, gentle, and wise, Wreck is beautifully empathetic and considered yet unfettered and freeing, and is highly recommended by our LoveReading team.
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Wreck Synopsis
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Rocky, Nick, Willa and Jamie. A normal loving, anxious, messy, relatable, family.
Rocky has her own her way of processing disasters: 1. This could happen to us. 2. This couldn't happen to us. And then there's a secret third column: 'This could happen to us unless I am very careful/ superstitious/ grateful…'
So when a former classmate of Jamie's dies in a seemingly random accident, Rocky becomes obsessed. She's also developed a niggling medical condition that won't go away. On the surface, she is still living her best life as the irreverent, funny, unpredictable beating heart of her family. Her father is his unique, adorable self; Willa is prone to bouts of existential angst whilst berating the fact that her mother has zero filter; Nick is steady, logical, sometimes infuriating.
But if accidents can happen - and they do - is it safe to love anyone?
Laugh out loud funny and deeply emotional, WRECK follows Rocky and her family through one rollercoaster year as they share the unpredictable, beautiful messiness of life.
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About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781529959697 |
| Publication date: |
29th January 2026 |
| Author: |
Catherine Newman |
| Publisher: |
Doubleday an imprint of Transworld |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| Pagination: |
215 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Modern and Contemporary Fiction
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| Other Genres: |
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| Recommendations: |
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Catherine Newman Press Reviews
'The kind of book that pulls up a chair, pours the wine, and dives deep... like spending hours with the friend who sees your mess and loves you more for it.' Alison Espach, New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding People
'Gorgeously human, tender-hearted, and delightfully funny' Nussaibah Younis, bestselling author of Fundamentally
'A heartbreaking, laugh-provoking, and absolutely Ephron-esque look at the beauty and fragility of everyday life.' Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
'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' Rachel Joyce, bestselling author of The Homemade God
PRAISE FOR SANDWICH & WE ALL WANT IMPOSSIBLE THINGS:
'Breezy New York Nora-Ephron-style wit meets hospice memoir to create something profoundly beautiful...comforting, so funny, moving but never mawkish and packed with all kinds of love. It's one of my favourite books ever' bestselling author, MARIAN KEYES
'One of the funniest books I've ever read' FEARNE COTTON, STYLIST
'I adored this book. Jubilant, devastating, tender, heartbreaking, I found myself both in tears and 'snorty-laughing'. A masterclass on friendship, family love, memory, and the messiness of life and love and dying. Pure genius' RACHEL JOYCE, author of the bestseller The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
'Tragically funny, with moments of clarity and wisdom, Newman writes loss and laughter in equally brilliant amounts' BONNIE GARMUS, bestselling author of Lessons in Chemistry
'Newman is truly a master of taking complex and chaotic human emotion and making sense of it ... wise and exquisitely written' GUARDIAN
'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
About Catherine Newman
Catherine Newman is the New York Times bestselling author of Sandwich and We All Want Impossible Things, which was also chosen for the Richard & Judy Book Club. She is also the author of the memoirs Catastrophic Happiness and Waiting for Birdy, and the bestselling children's book How to be a Person. She is a regular contributor to the New York Times, O, The Oprah Magazine, Cup of Jo, and many other publications. She writes the Substack newsletter Crone Sandwich and lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, with her family.
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