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Tears and laughter: We All Want Impossible Things, by Catherine Newman, reviewed

When Edi is moved to palliative care, her best friend Ash keeps vigil at her bedside, recalling their lifetime of shared jokes and experiences

18 January 2023

10:00 PM

18 January 2023

10:00 PM

We All Want Impossible Things Catherine Newman

Doubleday, pp.224, 14.99

Edi is dying of ovarian cancer and she’s craving the lemon cake she once got from Dean & Deluca deli in New York in the mid-1990s. Her forever best friend Ash is keeping vigil by Eli’s bedside in the Graceful Shepherd Hospice in western Massachusetts, trying to track down that elusive cake and keep Edi happy and comfortable with juice, lip balm and company.

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