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About the Book

About the Book

We All Want Impossible Things

For lovers of Meg Wolitzer, Maria Semple and Jenny Offill comes this raucous, poignant celebration of life, love and friendship at its imperfect and radiant best. 

Edith and Ashley have been best friends for over 42 years. They’ve shared the mundane and the momentous together: trick or treating and binge drinking; "Gilligan’s Island" reruns and REM concerts; hickeys and heartbreak; surprise Scottish wakes; marriages, infertility and children. As Ash says, “Edi’s memory is like the back-up hard drive for mine.” 

But now the unthinkable has happened. Edi is dying of ovarian cancer and spending her last days at a hospice near Ash, who stumbles into heartbreak surrounded by her daughters, ex(ish) husband, dear friends, a poorly chosen lover (or two), and a rotating cast of beautifully, fleetingly human hospice characters.

As the Fiddler on the Roof soundtrack blasts all day long from the room next door, Edi and Ash reminisce, hold on and try to let go. Meanwhile, Ash struggles with being an imperfect friend, wife, and parent --- with life, in other words, distilled to its heartbreaking, joyful and comedic essence.

For anyone who’s ever lost a friend or had one. Get ready to laugh through your tears.

Audiobook available, read by Jane Oppenheimer

We All Want Impossible Things
by Catherine Newman

  • Publication Date: November 7, 2023
  • Genres: Fiction, Humor, Women's Fiction
  • Paperback: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Harper Perennial
  • ISBN-10: 0063230925
  • ISBN-13: 9780063230927