The Wedding People by Alison Espach
Reviewer: Wena
Main Leads: Phoebe Stone
Setting: United States, Rhode Island, Newport
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Tags: Extramarital Affair, Grief & Loss, Suicidal Character
Published On: July 30, 2024
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.
Format: e-Book
Source: Purchased
Pages: 384
Purchase It: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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.
This book has been on my TBR pile ever since I became aware of it last year so when it was my turn to choose a book discussion book of the month, this book was the only option for me. This book surprised me with how much I enjoyed it. I expected to enjoy it but I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. I really enjoyed the author’s way of telling this story. There’s a lot of heavy themes throughout but Espach did such a great job of infusing humor throughout as to not bog the story that was being told down too much.
When we find out why Phoebe is at the Cornwall Inn, I didn’t think that there were any other things that would surprise me but boy was I wrong. From beginning to end, I was invested in the story being told, in the characters that we’re introduced to, and in seeing Phoebe come to life. Seeing the change in Phoebe throughout the book made for an interesting read and gave me a lot of hope that things and people can always turn around. There’s always light at the end of the tunnel. We just need to keep going.
This is the first book that I’ve read by Alison Espach but it won’t be the last. I liked her writing style and I thought she did a great job of bringing the setting to life. With each passing page, I didn’t want Phoebe to leave. Newport, Rhode Island was good for Phoebe and Phoebe was good for Newport, Rhode Island. As crazy and chaotic as things got for everyone at the wedding, at the hotel, and for Phoebe, I liked it all. Espach did a great job of balancing the humor with the heavier topics and because of that, I’m looking forward to reading more from this author. I definitely recommend this book.
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