Title: The Wedding People
Author: Alison Espach
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication date: July 30, 2024
Length: 384 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Library
Rating:

When Phoebe arrives at the Cornwall Inn, she’s literally at the end of the line. She’d dreamed of coming to this elegant Newport inn with her husband, except now he’s her ex, her dreams of starting a family ended with unsuccessful IVF rounds and a terrible miscarriage, and her work life — she’s an adjunct professor of literature who can’t seem to finish the books she’s been writing for far too many years — is stagnant and unfulfilling. After the devastation of her husband’s betrayal, the only bright spot remaining to Phoebe was her beloved cat — but finding him dead one day removed the last ray of light in her life. And so, Phoebe has come to this fancy inn for a final night of luxury before taking pills and slipping away.

Except life seems to have other plans for her. Upon arrival, Phoebe finds the Cornwall stuffed full of “wedding people” — she’s the only guest in the entire place not connected with the over-the-top, super-expensive, weeklong wedding extravaganza.

They laugh and then trade war stories of their terrible flights here and Phoebe does her best to ignore them, to keep her eyes focused on the magnificence of the lobby. But it’s hard. Wedding people are much louder than regular people

Mistaken for a wedding guest by the bride, Lila, Phoebe ends up on the receiving end of Lila’s gifts and confidences.

The bride steps out of the elevator and into the lobby wearing a glittering sash that says BRIDE so there is no confusion. Not that there could be any confusion. She is clearly the bride; she walks like the bride and smiles like the bride and twirls bride-ishly when she approaches High Bun and Neck Pillow in line, because the bride gets to do things like this for two or three days. She is a momentary celebrity, the reason everybody has paid thousands of dollars to come here.

Lila is self-centered and outspoken, and when she learns the truth about Phoebe’s reason for coming to the Cornwall, she’s aghast — a suicide will ruin her wedding!

Phoebe realizes that she does not truly want to end her life, and instead begins to reengage. Finding herself pulled into the wedding people’s stories and intrigues, she becomes an active part of the events, the planning, and the secrets and woes of the various people involved. Through Phoebe, we also learn much more about Lila and her family, as well as about the groom, Gary, whose story is sad and sympathetic, and his preteen daughter, who is not at all a fan of his young bride.

I initially found The Wedding People slow and not entirely interesting, but once Phoebe starts interacting with Lila and the “wedding people”, it becomes much more compelling. This is not an action-driven story by any means — instead, through the events of each day leading up to the wedding itself, we get to know the various characters, their feelings and movitations, and get a deeper understanding of how loneliness, loss, and family complications can lead people down paths they didn’t expect to follow.

Naturally, The Wedding People is also a send-up of wedding culture and the wedding industry, where the bride is always right, the wedding must be spectacular, and every detail — from napkins to chairs to the shoes of the wedding party — much be exactly right. The bachelorette party activities are so ridiculous that they’re both funny and pathetic, and each attempt of the bride’s to create a uniquely fabulous pre-wedding event is a testament to how out-of-control the focus on having a perfect wedding has become.

She can’t destroy a wedding. This wedding is too big to fail. This wedding is like the revolution of the earth. It’s going to happen whether Phoebe says anything or not.

The Wedding People is also unexpectedly touching. I found myself moved by Phoebe’s story, the emotional suffering she’s been through with the collapse of her marriage and the end of her dreams of starting a family with her husband. Because we understand so deeply what brought her to the low point where we first meet her, it’s quite lovely to see her find a new sense of self and purpose as the week goes on.

She wonders if her feelings for [spoiler] could be a new form of love, one she’s never known before: love without expectation. Love that you are just happy enough to feel. Love that you don’t try to own like a painting. But she doesn’t know if that is a real thing. She hopes it is.

Needless to say, the overarching concept of the book is funny in itself: Can you imagine being stuck at a fancy inn overrun by wedding people? It really does sound dreadful.

The Wedding People has many lighter, humorous moments, but overall, it’s an affecting story of loss, connection, endings, and beginnings. Highly engaging and readable — highly recommended.