Rachel’s nickname Rocky is an apt description of her life. Rocky’s husband, Nick, is a physical therapist and works mostly from home. Rocky, a writer, does, too. Their daughter, Willa, who suffers from anxiety and panic attacks, works with fruit flies at a lab while she applies for a neuroscience PhD program. And Jamie, the older son, is married and is a junior analyst at Dickens, a well known consulting firm.
Rocky’s mom died little more than a year ago and her father now occupies the in-law apartment behind their house. Although it’s the only structure on the property that has been renovated, her dad never stops complaining, usually about the temperature. It’s either too cold or too hot. Despite the occasional blips in the family, everyone, including the two family cats, get along. The home is filled with love, patience, understanding, and humor.
Rocky could also be a description of her steadfastness. She is indeed the family’s rock, the one who never flies off the handle, even when Nick is attempting a home repair that could go very wrong. When Willa has a meltdown, Rocky quickly gets someone on the phone who can help, while staying by her daughter’s side. She also shares her father’s grief, missing another woman in the family
When Rocky’s arms begin breaking out in a rash, she makes an appointment with a dermatologist. What should be a simple test turns into a medical mystery. There are more tests, more results, and when a diagnosis is within reach, Rocky still faces, yes, a rocky future.
But Rocky is a rock and so hides her fears from everyone in the family. Simon often drops her off for tests and she goes in alone. When Willas asks if Rocky has cancer, she reassures her daughter, even though that diagnosis might be better than the one she finally receives.
A diversion is presented when a car/train accident takes the life of a Miles Zapf, one of Jamie’s high school classmates. The young man’s death its Rocky hard, knowing how she would feel to lose Jamie. Soon, she’s on social media following posts by Miles’ mother, discounting claims that he took his own life. Other posters go after the freight railroad company, RCX, noting that the incident is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Railroad Administration, and the local police. No witnesses have come forward and the train’s driver was not injured.
Although Rocky doesn’t go to the funeral home, she does finds herself at the cemetery where Miles’ family gathers. “I’m not sure why this feels so wrong,” Rocky muses. “Maybe because it’s a kind of voyeuristic excavation of someone else’s tragedy. Heartbreaking, but from a remove because not us.” When Rocky finds out that Jamie’s firm was working for RCX, assessing the company’s safety programs, she finds another reason to follow what’s being said online. She knows her son’s values and knows that he might be blaming himself for Miles’ death.
As she does throughout the novel, Catherine Newman taps into our own hopes and fears. But she does so with incredible warmth and humor. Rocky is the kind of mother we all aspire to be. One who somehow finds the strength to push through her own challenges to have the energy she needs to tend to those around her. Few of us really succeed, but trying is often good enough.
Wreck
Catherine Newman
Top photo: Bigstock
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