The Wedding People
Although I would classify The Wedding People as a summer read, there are deeper themes in the book than the usual page-turner. The setting - Newport, RI and the wealthy young bride marrying an older doctor set a glamorous scene.
But the main character, who’s point-of-view drives the story, is not an invited guest. She has come to the hotel to escape a life gone awry. By mistake she is given a room, though the hotel is supposed to be occupied soley by the wedding party.
Set in the early days of the covid re-awakening, moods, resources and reflections are all colored by the convulsion of lockdowns.
Phoebe is the protagonist. She is an early middle age, adjunct professor questioning the point of going on with her life such as it is. She encounters the bride, who is also going through the loss of her father. She is getting married, it seems, in reaction to this loss - to the doctor who treated him in the end.
Caught in the rushing tide of a very expensive wedding, the story unfolds over an exhausting week of celebration in the face of many doubts.
With it’s layers, the book makes a good airplane/beach read but also would make an interesting bookclub selection.
About the Author:
Alison Espach is the New York Times best-selling author of The Wedding People, a New York Times Editor’s Choice, a TODAY Show #ReadwithJenna Book Club pick, a Barnes and Noble Book Club Pick, and the #1 Indie Next Pick for August 2024. The Wedding People will be published in over twenty countries. She is also the author of Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance, a Chicago Tribune and NPR “Best Book of 2022,” as well as The Adults, a New York Times Editor’s Choice and Barnes and Noble Discover pick. Her fictional audio series In-Depth Market Research Interviews with Dead People is an Audible Original. She has written for McSweeney’s, Vogue, Outside, LitHub, Joyland and other places. She lives and teaches creative writing in Rhode Island.
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