This is a very poignant story of the deeply moving friendship between 2 women, Edi and Ashley. When Edi is facing death from terminal ovarian cancer, it is Ashley who becomes her caretaker. The strange situation is caused when the best hospice care for Edi is near Ashley’s home. Three woman who join together to rent a large space along the beach in Los Angeles for their stores—a gift shop, a bakery, and a bookstore—become fast friends as they each experience the highs, and lows, of love. Tragically funny, with moments of clarity and wisdom, Newman writes loss and laughter in equally brilliant amounts. BONNIE GARMUS, author of LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY

All the characters, even the supporting ones, are very well-developed and they ask have their own distinct storylines that all diverge with Edi and her illness. Edi, a 45-year-old mom and documentary filmmaker, is dying of ovarian cancer in a hospice in Western Massachusetts. Where does a novel go with this setup?I honestly think this book is a bit hard to describe. I see it as a sort of cross between a slice-of-life story, a tale about the enduring power of friendship, and also, obviously, a book about cancer. In some ways, it almost reads like a long one-act play, the sort that tries to say a lot by not saying too much. Most of the book is recollections of the past from Ashley's POV, detailed in chats between her and Edi, and also the day-to-day life inside the hospice. This might not have been a long read...but it somehow FELT long to me. As much as I desperately tried to connect with the characters, I always felt like something was a bit off. These characters are fine and there isn't anything wrong with them...I just didn't ever feel completely hooked by the plot or too curious about where it was headed. We All Want Impossible Things is a thing of rare beauty: sweet and sharp, to be devoured, then remembered and loved life-long. i

Catherine Newman sees the heartbreak and comedy of life with wisdom and unflinching compassion. The way she finds the extraordinary in the everyday is nothing short of poetry. She’s a writer’s writer—and a human’s human.”—New York Times bestselling author Katherine CenterTragically funny, with moments of clarity and wisdom, Newman writes loss and laughter in equally brilliant amounts. ' BONNIE GARMUS

Mikki Brammer's The Collected Regrets of Clover is a big-hearted and life-affirming debut about a death doula who, in caring for others at the end of their life, has forgotten how to live her own, for readers of The Midnight Library. For fans of Nora Ephron and Sorrow & Bliss, We All Want Impossible Things is a deeply moving, jubilant celebration of life and friendship at its imperfect, radiant, and irreverent best.A riotously funny and fiercely loyal love letter to female friendship. The story of Edi and Ash proves that a best friend is a gift from the gods.... I laughed while crying, and was left revived. Newman is a comic masterhand and a dazzling philosopher of the day-to-day. AMITY GAIGE, author of SEA WIFE My work has been in lots of books and anthologies, including On Being 40, the fabulous Unbored series, The Bitch in the House, Oprah's Little Book of Happiness, and the Full Grown People collections. This book is supposed to be about the author’s experience while her BFF is dying of cancer in hospice. That ends up being maybe 30% of the story. Somehow, this author turned a book about her BFF dying from cancer into a book about herself, instead—mainly her atypical sex life and her personal relationships. It just feels all wrong and “sacrilegious.” At one point her dying friend cries about how callously the author has thrown away everything the dying friend is losing (a husband/soulmate). At another point, the author’s high school daughter tells the author to get over herself and act more mature towards her ex-husband. Another time the author gets high and asks her ex-husband to sleep with her. (He declines.) The author has sex with the dying friend’s oncologist and the dying friend’s brother. At multiple times the author is having sex at her home and her high school daughter walks in. And just like the song from Fiddler so aptly states, Newman reminds us that life is laden with both happiness AND tears. Edi is dying. Ash is her best friend. They have been for over 42 years. What is beautiful about this story is that the author achieved something that is difficult. She talks about death with humor. And we as readers can be present – albeit with Kleenex.