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.

I read (and loved) Catherine Newman’s “We All Want Impossible Things” earlier this year, and when I read the title of this one, I wondered whether it was a book I would enjoy. I seriously thought it had to be about a baker or something. After a few Instagram friends raved about it, I decided to look further into it and decided I would give the audiobook a try. I’m so glad I did. I think I may have liked this one even more than her first. If you are a fan of Anne Patchett’s “Tom Lake,” then I encourage you to give this one a try; it has the same vibe.

This time around, we spend our time with a menopausal woman named Rocky. She, her husband, her lesbian daughter, their son, and his fiancee are off to Cape Cod for their annual end-of-summer vacation. They’ve picked the same rental they’ve stayed at every year since they started coming here because comfort and tradition work well for this family. Taking place over the course of seven days, the story follows Rocky as she navigates the challenges of menopause, her kids growing up and moving on, things she wanted but never had, and the realization that her parents are aging and won’t be around forever.

The heart of the story lies in Rocky’s relationship with her family and the deep emotional connections that bind them together. Rocky also has a few secrets that she’s kept from her kids and her husband, and as she reflects on how far her little family has come, she can’t help but be weighed down by those things she’s lost and will never have again.

One of the things that I really love about Newman’s books is how authentic her storytelling is. Her characters are relatable, and her narrative style is easy to read. Her books seem almost conversational in that you feel like you’ve sat down with a close friend, and she is telling you a story. She doesn’t shy away from addressing the messiness and complications of life, making her books engaging and relatable. The characters are well-developed and will have you laughing one moment and then tearing up the next.

Newman also doesn’t spend a whole lot of time fluffing up her prose or filling her stories with unnecessary plot points. She respects her reader’s time in that she gets in, tells the story, and then gets out. No words are wasted. Her prose is always fresh, engaging, and filled with wit and charm. She has an uncanny ability to capture the nuances of family relationships and the ups and downs of mid-life in a way that makes you cringe while also realizing how accurate the descriptions are.

As far as the audiobook goes, the narrator perfectly captured Rocky’s personality and voice. I mentioned earlier how Newman has a way of making you feel as though you’ve sat down with a friend and they’re telling you a story, and this narrator made it feel exactly like that. I highly recommend listening to this one if audiobooks are your thing.

In my opinion, this was another win from Catherine Newman. Dare I say she has become an auto-buy author for me? Her writing is genuine, her characters relatable and heartfelt, and she always manages to capture the nuances of middle age beautifully. If you’re in the mood for a book that will tug at your heartstrings while also leaving you with a smile on your face, be sure to check this one out. You won’t be disappointed.