Get your copy here!

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.

A highly recommended book, I was interested in the premise (which has the feel of A Man Called Ove). Though the book starts on a sad note (much like Ove), the writing and situation immediately captivated me. To be expected, I was not a fan of the split timeline, but Phoebe’s and Lila’s interactions so intrigued me that I had to keep reading.

The authors writing style isn’t my favorite (one line of dialogue; a paragraph of reflection–it slows the story for me), I enjoyed watching the characters interact, especially when Lila’s about on your last nerve, but things heat up and you get to see what life is supposed to be like.

I love the blend of happy but not perfect; struggling but not destroyed. And any book that ends with hope works for me.

Rated PG-13 for drinking, some swearing, and adult topics.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

For a similar story, check out A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman.