We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman

Posted by Ms K on February 25, 2023 in All | Leave a comment

This cover had me at hello but the review on it comparing the author to Nora Ephron, one of my all time favourite authors, sealed the deal. She was coming home with me.

I confess the storyline gave me pause as I didn’t know if I was up to it. Death. Terminal cancer and a young woman way too young to prepare for the end of her life. A child way too young to say goodbye to their mum. I’m glad I was brave enough to do it because it was beautiful. Bloody heartbreaking but beautiful.

Have I ever mentioned ‘The Household Guide to Dying’ by Deborah Adelaide at any point? I can’t remember if I’ve ever talked about it here but it is one of the most moving, powerful books I have ever read to this day (so based on this, I probably have mentioned). If you haven’t read it, DO. You’ll weep. Alot. You won’t forget it.

I think this book is like that one….I don’t think I’ll forget it. I felt cracked open.

Edi is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Not wanting to put her husband, and especially her young son through the difficult journey of palliative care, she says her goodbye to them at the hospital and goes to a hospice near her best friend Ash’s house. There are only a handful of weeks left and Ash dedicates herself to Edi and her every wish – big and small. Anything to give them more memories together.

Edi wants to eat a lemon cake that she tasted years before and wants to see the stars. Ash loses herself having sex with lots of different people. Together they want the impossible thing – for time to go backwards.

Consider this book a love letter to friendship and a reason to have a good cry when you think of the goodbyes you’ve said to those you love deeply. It’s a cathartic read that way. There are lines I marked because it put into words how I’ve felt during my own farewells and the words I couldn’t say. You might feel the same….what I can promise though is reading this, you’ll feel alot and in huge waves – joy, sorrow, shock, you’ll chuckle, you’ll reflect and you’ll feel that life, overall, is utterly brutal, but it’s really lovely too.

But that is just my two cents worth.