The Wedding People

 

The Wedding People / Alison Espach
NY: Henry Holt, c2024
384 p.

This novel was a pick for the Read with Jenna book club, and has just this week won the Goodreads Reader's Choice for Fiction award. So it's pretty popular and widely read. I don't often read these books, as I feel like I've already read them, just from all the talk. But this one sounded interesting from what everyone was saying about it, and I was kind of in the mood for a read like this. I'm glad I gave it a try, because I found it pretty good, with humour and pathos and good characters all blending into a very readable story. 

The plot is seemingly straightforward: middle-aged academic Phoebe Stone is divorced and one day she shows up at a fancy hotel in Newport, Rhode Island - one which she's always wanted to stay at - and finds that she is the only guest that is not part of the destination wedding taking over the place. But as she's dressed in a fancy green dress (long story) she is taken for another guest. Before the facts are cleared up, she meets the bride to be, the much younger (and richer) Lila. Their relationship is a quick build, and it's really funny and touching. Lila is a bit controlling and doesn't want anything to ruin her wedding week. Phoebe's plans for the week do not mix well with Lila's. Their unexpected conversations and the way they reveal themselves to one another drew me in quickly - their interactions are strong and lively and feel so real. 

Phoebe gets drawn into the chaos of the wedding week plans, even becoming the Maid of Honour once the original can't make it. It's crazy, but you just go with it. She also meets the groom, before she realizes that's who he is, which is another element of this story. 

It's an interesting mix of heart-rending, funny and predictable, all at the same time. It doesn't veer into maudlin, though. Somehow this story avoids that easy trap, and is fresh and engaging even with some of the more obvious plot points. I did find the frank talk about sex a bit over the top at times, with some explicit language, and seemingly every character (except the child one) really focused on their sex life a lot of the time. 

But the narrative goes into loss, marriage, love, personal responsibility for your own life, friendship, life choices, aging, and so much more. And the characters really sell this one for me. I found the opening and the first half quick reading, with a bit of a drag in the middle as the week carries on, then it picks up again as the story and the competing desires of all the characters come to a head. I liked the ending and the possibilities it offered to many of the characters. This was overall a satisfying read, and I'm glad I gave it a go, finishing just in time to vote for it on Goodreads ;)