We All Want Impossible Things: A Novel by Catherine Newman. New York: 2022, 209 pages. ****
Edi and Ash have been friends for over forty-two years through everything that life has thrown at them. This is their biggest hurdle; Edi is dying of ovarian cancer and is in hospice care near where Ash lives. Edi has chosen to die near Ash rather than close to her husband and seven-year-old son. She doesn't want to take Dash out of school and away from his friends, not knowing what this next stage will bring. Ash and Edi have always been there for each other --weddings, childbirth, heartbreak, concerts, and the sharing of their secrets. Ash cannot envision life without Edi, "Edi's memory is like the back up hard drive for mine, and have that same crashing, crushing feeling you have when the beach ball on your computer starts spinning. “Ash’s response to Edi's dying is to search for meaning in her own life and to have sex with anyone willing to help her feel alive. The touching story of their friendship is told with humor, sorrow, and compassion.
The reviews are mixed for Newman's first adult novel. A friend died a year ago, so I felt a connection with Edi and Ash. There is always some humor in sorrow and those moments seem insignificant yet are so poignant in a person's story. While some may question the validity of Edi moving closer to Ash, it makes sense when hospice beds are in short supply and Edi doesn't want her son to experience her death. "Sicilian lemon polenta pound cake is Edi's holy grail." Ash makes it her mission to find a recipe for that same cake to be included in a recipe book for Dash.
I was captivated by this story of love and friendship. At the age I am now, my life seems to be one of friend's illnesses and funerals. Saying goodbye is never easy, however, Newman shows us that it can be beautiful.
From Amazon
Catherine Newman is the author of the kids' how-to books How to Be a Person and What Can I Say?, the memoirs Catastrophic Happiness and Waiting for Birdy, the middle-grade novel One Mixed-Up Night, and the grown-up novels We All Want Impossible Things (Harper 2022) and Sandwich (Harper 2024). She edits the non-profit kids' cooking magazine ChopChop and is a regular contributor to the New York Times, O, The Oprah Magazine, Cup of Jo, and many other publications. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, with her family.
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