The Wedding People
Phoebe is finally staying in the luxury Rhode Island inn she and her husband had planned to visit for years. But this visit is nothing like they dreamed: she's alone, since he left her for another woman, her cat has just died, and she's there to end her life. She's also the only guest in the hotel who is not there for the week-long wedding extravaganza. She's quickly mistaken for a guest, and when the bride finds out her plans, she quickly takes her into the fold (mostly so the wedding won't be ruined).
Soon she finds herself part of the festivities, forging an unlikely (and very funny) friendship with the flighty bride, as well as other unexpected connections. Filled with fantastic characters, heartfelt moments, realistic portrayals of mental health struggles, and funny interactions, I enjoyed this from start to finish.
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Publisher’s Description
A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help us start anew.
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 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.
In turns uproariously, absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is a look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined―and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.