Fans of Laurie Frankel and Miriam Toews rejoice. If you appreciate their dark humor, you’ll revel in We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman.
Ash and Edi have been best friends practically from
birth. Now they must face Edi’s impending death. Edi says her goodbyes to her
young son and husband and moves into a hospice facility near Ash’s family. Over
the next few weeks, a revolving cast of characters visit Edi, bringing lip balm,
bagels, and approximations of “The Cake” - a lemon pound cake she tasted once and
has never been able to replicate. When Ash isn’t keeping Edi company, she’s
juggling her own cache of lovers, trying to persuade her daughter to go to class,
and sharing meals with her ex, Honey.
How do you say goodbye? How do you reconcile loss with
life? Whose idea was it to name a candy horehound? All these questions and more
are broached with love and humor. Death is messy. Life is messy. And sometimes
all you can do is embrace the corporeal to deal with it.
Oh, and near the end, there’s a bit about petrichor.
Always a good sign of a good read.
