It's a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people - but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall Inn who isn't here for the big event.
Phoebe has dreamed of coming here for years. She hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband but now she is divorced and depressed, and not sure how to go on. She's not been sure how to do anything, lately, except climb into bed and drink gin and tonics and listen to the sound of the refrigerator making ice.
When the bride discovers her elaborate destination wedding could be ruined by this sad stranger, she is furious. She has spent months accounting for every detail and every possible disaster - except for, well, Phoebe . . . Soon, both women find their best-laid plans derailed and an unlikely confidante in one another.
Uproariously funny and devastatingly tender, The Wedding People is an irresistible novel about love, friendship, dysfunctional families, and the unexpected paths that lead to happiness.
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The Wedding People by Alison Espach was published on 1 August 2024 by Phoenix. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review.
There's something really special about this novel. The writing, combined with the incredible character creation, the setting and the, at times, hilariously funny narrative is such a stunning combination. It's the story of a one woman's journey. She's not actually travelling from place to place geographically, but hurtling from one event to another. From happily married, to divorced and suicidal, to the glamour and totally over the top setting of the wedding of a wealthy woman.
Phoebe has always wanted to stay at The Cornwall Inn, a hotel that betrays its name by being much more than an inn by the sea. This is luxury, it screams wealth and entitlement. Phoebe always thought that she and her husband would visit together, but here she is, dressed in green silk with no luggage. On her own. Her husband is no longer her husband. He's now playing happy families with another woman, and her child. Phoebe and her husband tried so hard to be parents.
Lila is also staying at the hotel. She is there for a week, to celebrate her upcoming wedding to Gary. Lila is not happy when she discovers that Phoebe has a room booked in 'her' hotel, during her wedding celebrations. Phoebe is not one of the wedding people. Lila is used to getting her own way, but this time it's not happening.
To be honest, Phoebe is a hot mess. An educated, intelligent woman who wants to write, she's been totally destroyed by the end of her marriage and her inability to carry a child. Her plans for her stay were firm, but meeting Lila, and then the other wedding people, slowly change those plans. Whilst she still hurts, is still angry and still not sure of her future, meeting these extraordinary people really become a medicine to her.
There's Gary, the groom-to-be, his daughter Juice and his sister Marla. There's his first wife's brother and then there's Lila. Oh Lila, how I loved you. Spoilt, entitled, totally oblivious, but such a dream of a character. Hilarious at times, heart breaking and tender at others, this is a woman who despite her wealth, is poor in terms of friends, and support, and understanding.
With themes that include the complexities of the parent/child relationship, the loneliness within relationships, long-term grief and the importance of real friendships, this is a novel that teaches whilst making you laugh.
Told over just a few days, The Wedding People is a book to savour. A book to make you laugh, and to make you think. You will discover characters who will fill your heart. Highly recommended.
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first to be published in the UK.
Her short stories and essays have appeared in a wide range of publications, including McSweeney's and Vogue.
She is a professor of creative writing at Providence College in Rhode Island.
www.alisonespach.com
Instagram @alison.espach
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