The Wedding People by Alison Espach

The Wedding People by Alison Espach is a character-driven novel set in a seaside hotel in Newport, Rhode Island where two strangers—Phoebe, a woman grappling with several losses and Lila, a bride with a week-long, highly organized wedding extravaganza.

Phoebe is intelligent, sarcastic, depressed, and exhausted. She has no hopes, plans or interests. When she arrives at the impressive Cornwall Inn she is dressed for a party but has no suitcase and is alone. Everyone at the inn assumes she is one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the who isn’t there for the big event.

Lila has planned every tiny detail of her wedding. Her father recently passed away and his dying wish was to see his daughter happily married. To help accomplish this he left her a million dollars for a wedding. Gary, the doctor who was treating her father when he passed, is her groom. Lila already has her hands full dealing with a whole lot of characters: her day drinking mother who doesn't think her future son-in-law is the right match; Marla, Gary's grumpy sister, was caught having an affair, Juice, Gary's daughter who he had with his deceased wife Wendy, is a moody pre-teen who does not like Lila, and Jim, Gary's best friend and the brother of Gary's deceased wife, who Lila views as an overgrown frat boy. When she meets Phoebe and learns of her reason for coming to the inn, she not only flat out refuses to allow Phoebe to do it but she also invites her to participate in the wedding activities. These two women form a surprising friendship.

Alison Espach portrays heavy topics in a plain spoken way and with some humor which some might find off putting. Themes include grief, identity, and expectations in marriage.

When I began reading The Wedding People my initial feeling was 'eh.' I found it a little disjointed and slow. Phoebe's story was more engaging than Lila's. I wasn't sure what was the point of this narrative. However, about half way through I started to get it - people shaped by trauma, how it changes their definition and re-directs lives. While I appreciated the reflection the major players in the novel were undergoing, I found all the character growth occurring in such a small expanse of time hard to believe.

This was a book club read and my lukewarm response to The Wedding People was definitely in the minority. Most members of the group really enjoyed the premise and the characters. We did talk about whether it was realistic that all of the character transformations would actually take place. Most felt that yes it was if viewed as a jumping off point for the changes to take place.

Companion Songs: Mazzy Star "Fade Into You"

Villagers "Nothing Arrived"

Author Authentic: Alison Espach's journey as an author began in elementary school. She 'wrote' homemade "novels" using two pieces of cardboard, yarn, and her brother’s history reports. She would rewrite them adding her own twists.