The Wedding People

by Alison Espach

Book Overview

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A Today Show #ReadwithJenna Book Club Pick

A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew.

It's a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn't here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she's dreamed of coming for years--she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she's here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan--which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can't stop confiding in each other.

In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach's The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined--and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250899575
• ISBN13: 9781250899576
• Release Date: July 2024
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.27 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

4 stars

THE WEDDING PEOPLE by Alison Eapach I’ve seen this book *everywhere* with rave reviews. I went into it thinking it was going to be a typical, lightweight rom-com, but it was more complex than that. These characters were an hot mess! Phoebe, the bride Delilah, and the rest of the wedding guests were so annoying. Lilah was especially immature. In the end, I saw the characters for who they were and what they were going through. They’re just trying to do the best they can with what they got. (Isn’t that what we’re all doing?) If you’re the type to use humor as a coping mechanism, you’ll like Phoebe. If not, you’ll probably be disappointed and maybe a little offended at how such heavy topics (suicide, depression, infidelity, infertility, loss/grief…) were addressed somewhat flippantly by the author. Unfortunately, those issues cannot be resolved within a week in real life. Overall, I liked it for what it was, but I’m a bit on the fence about the tone. Rating: 4/5 ⭐️