“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.”
I’m not sure what I was expecting from this book, though it looked fun and interesting. And after two long books, I thought a fluffy free comic novel would be a great palate cleanser. I’m not exactly the target audience for this book (mid 50s menopausal woman), but, again, I thought it looked amusing and I don’t often read a lot of women writers. As I read, as I pondered Rocky’s situation, I felt the relationship with her two kids, well, adults (24 year-old son Jamie and 21 year-old lesbian Willa) too open and not believable. Perhaps it’s just me; I did not grown up with a very close family. We were not upper middle class folks who could drop the amount of cash this family does once a year. Plus, what 24 year-old modern male, with a successful job and a beautiful girlfriend, still honoring such a family vacation tradition? It makes no sense.
It reminded me of little seen TV series Wonderfalls where psychiatrist Dr Campbell asks Jaye Tyler (who was in crisis after having a wax lion talk to her. Long story.) “When's the last time you told your sister you loved her?” and she responds “I don't know how you did things in your family, but we weren't raised that way.”
I’ve never run into a family that is so open and maybe even a bit crude (and I’m not that prissy, or a pearl clutcher, but Newman took it to a bit extreme) about relationships and sex. It’s very liberal, which will limit the audience, and very creepy at times because I can’t grasp the closeness of this family. There is no real plot here, as well, just a monologue short novel about one woman’s struggle with her feminine body; abortion, depression, menopause.
And the title? I get it: Rocky is “sandwiched” between her millennial kids and her aging parents, and not sure where she feels comfortable with.
So I’m not going to read the sequel, Wreck. Because I think this was one already.
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