Book Description 

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.

My Review 

While I never want to give too much away, I think it’s important to let readers know that Phoebe travels to Newport with plans to end her life. It is also important to note that she does not have the opportunity to even attempt to follow through with her plan because she is interrupted by Lila. 

And then after that, Phoebe decides to stick around for the wedding, especially after Lila offers to pay for her room for the rest of the week. Being drawn into this imperfect zany family does not solve all of Phoebe’s problems, but it does offer her fresh perspective and a big distraction from her hot mess life back home. 

This was such a lovely book. It is tender and sweet and uplifting, but also darkly funny. Phoebe is such a relatable protagonist who has just had everything go wrong. I don’t want to imply that any initial plans were justifiable, but it’s clear that she’s his rock bottom. Seeing her bounce back from there was delightful, as was her integration into her new “family” from initial reluctance to being one of the gang. 

I would absolutely recommend The Wedding People. This book was just so refreshing and fun; it’s easy to see why it’s such a popular read.