Title: The Wedding People
Author: Alison Espach
Year: 2024
Genre: Romance
Phoebe Stone arrives at the Cornwall Inn alone and at rock bottom, however she is mistaken for one of the guests at Lila’s wedding. As the two cross paths, will the women find happiness in unexpected places? The book was chosen as my local bookshop’s, Blue Sheep Books‘, book club read for this month and I hadn’t heard of it before hand.
Plot
Phoebe Stone arrives at the Cornwall Inn, wearing just a green dress with no luggage. She is at rock bottom when she is checking in and realises she has arrived at the same time as a wedding party. In the lift she meets the bride, Lila and announces she isn’t part of the wedding, she is there to kill herself. Lila reacts with shock and tries to talk her out of the decision.
As the wedding week progresses and the two women begin to confide in each other, are Lila and Gary as happy as they seem, will Phoebe change her mind and what chance encounters could lead the two women on unexpected routes to find happiness that they never thought they would take?
Thoughts
I really enjoyed reading the Wedding People, even though it isn’t really a genre I typically read. One of the things that really struck me with the book is how well the characters are written as they feel like real people who we connect with as readers. At the beginning of the novel I found Phoebe to be somewhat unlikeable and felt for Lila that this stranger has turned up at her wedding, announcing she wants to kill herself when Lila is hoping it will be the happiest week of her life.
However as the book progresses and more is revealed about why Phoebe is in this situation we do feel sorry for her and sometimes Lila can come across as somewhat of a bridezilla which makes us sympathise with her less, but then equally as we learn about Lila she also has some traits that make us warm to her, for instance how she tries to use the wedding to honour her father.
The guests at the wedding are also well imagined, Lila’s best friends are funny in a ditzy kind of way whilst Marla and Juice, Gary’s sister and daughter, have some very sharp observations that are witty and hilarious to read. There are a few times during the story where the book did make me laugh with its biting observations of weddings and the culture created around them.
In terms of the plot, I will admit this is the type of book where the story is very predictable, I even guessed the ending from the blurb and by the time you end the first section it is pretty clear what is going to happen. However, that isn’t to say that the ending wasn’t still heartwarming and left me feeling joyful for both women.
Overall this book I would say is ideal for a quick summer or holiday read, joyful and fun whilst it lasts and I think I would read it again occasionally for a little pick me up type of read. If you have read this book, let me know in the comments down below what you think.
