Discover the Penguin books that shaped us

Wreck

Brought to you by Penguin.

From the NYT bestselling author of WE ALL WANT IMPOSSIBLE THINGS and SANDWICH, a deeply emotional and deeply funny novel about life's random accidents, family, and living for the moment.


Rocky, Nick, Willa and Jamie. A normal loving, anxious, messy, unpredictable, relatable, family.

Rocky has her own her way of processing disasters: 1. This could happen to us. 2. This couldn’t happen to us. And then there’s a secret third column: ‘This could happen to us unless I am very careful/ superstitious/ grateful…’

So what happens when ‘this could happen to us’ turns into ‘it really might be me’?

When a former classmate of Jamie’s dies in a seemingly random accident, Rocky becomes obsessed. She's also developed a niggling medical condition that won't go away. She is still living her best life as the irreverent, funny, unpredictably beating heart of her family. Her father is still his unique, outspoken adorable self; Willa is still prone to bouts of existential angst whilst berating the fact that her mother has zero filter; Nick is still steady, logical, sometimes infuriating.

But if accidents can happen – and they do – is it safe to love anyone?

Laugh out loud funny and deeply emotional, WRECK follows Rocky and her family through one rollercoaster year as they learn to live with life's 'what ifs?'

© Catherine Newman 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Wreck is the kind of book that pulls up a chair, pours the wine, and dives deep—equal parts hilarious, sharp, and achingly sincere. It’s like spending hours with the friend who sees your mess and loves you more for it. I didn’t just read it—I felt known by it. A luminous, laugh-out-loud triumph by Newman.

Alison Espach, New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding People

About Catherine Newman

Catherine Newman is the New York Times bestselling author of Sandwich and We All Want
Impossible Things
, which was also chosen for the Richard & Judy Book Club. She is also the
author of the memoirs Catastrophic Happiness and Waiting for Birdy, and the bestselling
children's book How to be a Person. She is a regular contributor to the New York Times, O,
The Oprah Magazine, Cup of Jo, and many other publications. She writes the Substack newsletter Crone Sandwich and lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, with her family.
Details
All editions