The Wedding People by Alison Espach

The Wedding People by Alison Espach – 384 pages

ARC from Macmillan Audio, Henry Holt and Netgalley  

Book Blurb:

t’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 dreamt of coming for years―she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe―which makes it that much more surprising when the women can’t stop confiding in each other.

My Review: 4.5 stars

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The Wedding People by Alison Espach was a raw examination of life, love, infertility, identity and how sometimes life takes to where we need to be. I’m so glad I went into this one blind. I knew nothing about this book when I got an ARC, but the title and cover art pulled me in. It was just a joy to read.

I know a review is necessary, but oh I how I wish you could go into this one blind as I did. This book is so much more than it appears. This story is a richly layered, emotional journey that features broken characters that come together for a wedding. The main character, Pheobe, is the only guest at this ritzy Newport hotel that is not there for the wedding. Awkward! Little do the other guests know that she is there to commit suicide after her husband left her for another woman.

When the bride, Lila, learns that this random woman is going to “unalive” herself during her wedding WEEK, she is over the top obsessed that she does this act somewhere else. Lila and Pheobe are characters that you won’t soon forget. Honestly, all the minor characters were memorable as well. The dialogue was so on point and the honesty that people often feel when talking to a stranger made for great transparency between characters.

I’m already giving far too much away. Just read this one. Great contemporary fiction.

Quotes I liked:

I just mean, a story can be beautiful not because of the way it ends. But because of the way it’s written.”

“Your husband is not going to take care of you the way you think,” Phoebe says. “Nobody can take care of you the way you need to take care of yourself. It’s your job to take care of yourself like that.”

How could you love yourself? How could you love yourself when you know every single horrible thing you’ve ever thought?”

“The bigger the gesture, the emptier the feeling. The more wedding you need, the less happy you must be.”