Club Sandwich (Paperback)

by Lisa Samson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Christy Award–winner Samson has a penchant for dysfunctional characters and chaotic situations, and her latest novel is chock-full of both. Ivy Schneider is a flat-chested 38-year-old with size 10 feet whose husband has been away for more than three years on a gospel singing tour. Her brother veers between addictions; her aging divorced mother lives in her made-over dining room, breaking out into dementia-induced sermons; and her three children grapple with everything from day-care troubles to teen angst. Meanwhile, her mooching father takes up residence in her basement, her rich sister tries to fix a broken marriage and a few adulterous sparks ignite between Ivy and her friend Mitch. Throw in the family diner that Ivy helps run, and you begin to wonder if a little bit less might have been a whole lot more. Samson's rambling first-person narrative is engaging, but she never fully develops the titular support group of women juggling children and aging parents. Readers will cheer when Ivy figures out the difference between practicing sacrificial love and acting like a doormat, although they may wonder what took her so long. Samson (Songbird; Tiger Lily) is one of the Christian fiction market's best novelists, and although this is not her best work, her fans will enjoy the read. (June 21)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description
Hey, Friend–

Do you know what it’s like give to 100 percent and still feel like it’s not–and you’re not–enough for anybody? To be caught between caring for an aging parent and raising young children? I lived in that place for four years.

Ivy Schneider lives in this place, too, and she isn’t at all happy about it. Her husband Rusty spends ten months a year on the road singing in a gospel quartet, and her mom gets sicker every day, requiring increasingly more care and time. Ivy’s dad took off years ago but still comes around–for free meals. Her brother and sister are more than happy to let responsibility rest on Ivy’s shoulders. Maybe she could handle it all if only her darling three-year old terror, Trixie, would just “go” on the potty. Who will take care of Ivy while she takes care of the world?

No one, it seems. Then Ivy runs an ad in the paper to find folks like herself: women of the “sandwich generation,” squeezed between the demands of raising young children and caring for an aging parent. Soon she and the other women of Club Sandwich are building uncommonly deep friendships, witnessing the reality that in fact no woman can be everything to everybody, and discovering firsthand that they can do more than they imagined possible with the help of each another and with a strong dose of faith.

If your life is about caring for others, I dedicate this book to you. Welcome to the club. You are most definitely not alone.

Grace,

Lisa

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: WaterBrook Press (June 7, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578568854
• ISBN-13: 978-1578568857
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #561,200 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A humorous, and compassionate tale, August 3, 2005

By	FaithfulReader.com (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

In the opening chapter of CLUB SANDWICH, Ivy Schneider is off and running... her mouth.

"No one's ever accused me of being balanced. If childhood maps out future beliefs and actions, it's no wonder I veer to the right when walking down the sidewalk. If I spin, I twirl right. If I dance, my right foot leads. Perhaps my left-handedness dictates this bent, but I know better. I even look conservative with my understated pageboy, my Keds, and my sundresses. Now if I chose orthopedic sandals, I'd look like a member of PETA. And dreadlocks on this stark white woman? That might land me a delegate position to the Democratic National Convention."

In this rambling narrative style, Ivy continues to wax reminiscent about the Cold War, growing up in a fundamentalist Christian church, her mom's virtues, Stephen Tyler, and hot baths. In one fell swoop, author Lisa Samson provides a neatly developed character whose life is anything but. She's a mother of three, part-owner of the family's restaurant, and a columnist for the local paper. Her mother is elderly, her no-good father only comes around for free meals, her brother is a womanizer, and her sister is self-absorbed. Oh yeah. And her husband is never home. For the last three years he's spent ten months of the year on the road as a singer.

"I'm a little mad right now," Ivy tells us, also still in the first chapter. "I haven't heard from my husband, Rusty, in three days. Granted, he's busy singing tenor for a traveling gospel barbershop quartet, Heavenly Harmonies, but would it be so hard to turn on the blinkin' cell phone before the concert begins and just say hi?

Frankly, I'll take anger over dear any day. At least anger buffs you up.

Lemons out of lemonade. Hmm Well, let's see now. Three days incommunicado may just equal that new light fixture I want for the front porch. Oh yeah. Drink up, Rusty. I just won this one."

Ivy may have "won" that one, but her busy (and lonely) life is quickly stretched to the breaking point. Her mother falls and begins to suffer from dementia, so she moves in with the Ivy brood. Then the no-good dad needs a place to stay. And, wouldn't you know, so does Rusty's dad. Before you know it, Chez Schneider is a glorified boarding house and Ivy finds herself firmly sandwiched between serving the needs of her parents and the needs of her children.

It's from this predicament that the book derives its name. Samson says she was inspired to write the book, in part, because she too was caught in this sandwich for four years. But while Ivy does form a support group of women in similar situations, these characters remain in the margins, probably to the detriment of the book. It would have been nice to see and know more of them. As it is, the major players are Ivy and her family members. And Mitch, the old flame she considers reigniting in her husband's absence.

Some will find the narrative flow, which often resembles an ongoing dialogue between Ivy and herself, engaging. I found it scattered, an inadequate shortcut to character development. But the topics that CLUB SANDWICH tackles --- adultery, economic strain on marriages, caring for parents and kids, handling adult siblings, etc. --- are especially pertinent to many women today. Figuring out how to be a servant without getting stepped on is tricky, and Samson explores these tensions with compassion and humor.

--- Reviewed by Lisa Ann Cockrel

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quite Enjoyable!, July 14, 2005

By	The Good Girl Reviewers "goodgirlbookclubonline" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

CLUB SANDWICH is a great picker upper read and discuss with your girlfriends novel. Women everywhere regardless of age or marital status will identify with IVY in this Approval Addiction generation.

Join IVY and the other women of Club Sandwich as they forge a friendship and rock solid faith while learning firsthand the reasons why they all need each other to survive.

Enjoy CLUB SANDWICH today!

Happy Reading!

Reviewed by Marina Woods for [...]

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars deep psychological character study , June 16, 2005

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In the Baltimore suburbs, Ivy Schneider finds life overwhelming. She writes a newspaper column, works at the family restaurant, raises three kids including one in diapers, insures her widowed mom gets her dialysis treatment and has no time for herself. Her spouse Rusty tours with the Heavenly Harmonics gospel barbershop quartet and is away from their bed quite often, failing to accompany her to her twentieth high school reunion.

At the end of her rope, Ivy feels all alone and squeezed from all ends. She places an ad for other individuals trapped as the sandwich generation to contact her. To her surprise several folks do share her feeling that the world is collapsing on her. Together they form CLUB SANDWICH to help one another cope. A stunned Rusty cannot believe his wife depends on strangers rather than him, but how he acts now that Ivy has formed a support group remains to be seen.

This is a deep family drama that centers on the pressure of being the sandwich generation struggling to care for ailing parents and nurturing children at the same time. Ivy is a terrific superwoman feeling the weight of the world with no, one including her spous,e to help her balance her responsibilities until she forms the club with similarly "trapped" soul mates. Lisa Samson provides a deep psychological character study that showcases a growing phenomenon.

Harriet Klausner