New York Times Bestseller<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
\n
Betrayed by her husband, a severely depressed young woman gets drawn into the over-the-top festivities at a lavish wedding. <\/p>\n
Phoebe Stone, who teaches English literature at a St. Louis college, is plotting her own demise. Her husband, Matt, has left her for another woman, and Phoebe is taking it hard. Indeed, she’s determined just where and how she will end it all: at an oceanfront hotel in Newport, where she will lie on a king-sized canopy bed and take a bottle of her cat\u2019s painkillers. At the hotel, Phoebe meets bride-to-be Lila, a headstrong rich girl presiding over her own extravagant six-day wedding celebration. Lila thought she had booked every room in the hotel, and learning of Phoebe’s suicidal intentions, she forbids this stray guest from disrupting the nuptials: \u201cNo. You definitely can\u2019t kill yourself. This is my wedding <\/i>week.\u201d After the punchy opening, a grim flashback to the meltdown of Phoebe’s marriage temporarily darkens the mood, but things pick up when spoiled Lila interrupts Phoebe’s preparations and sweeps her up in the wedding juggernaut. The slide from earnest drama to broad farce is somewhat jarring, but from this point on, Espach crafts an enjoyable\u2014if overstuffed\u2014comedy of manners. When the original maid of honor drops out, Phoebe is persuaded, against her better judgment, to take her place. There\u2019s some fun to be had here: The wedding party\u2014including groom-to-be Gary, a widower, and his 11-year-old daughter\u2014takes surfing lessons; the women in the group have a session with a Sex Woman. But it all goes on too long, and the humor can seem forced, reaching a low point when someone has sex with the vintage wedding car (you don\u2019t want to know the details). Later, when two characters have a meet-cute in a hot tub, readers will guess exactly how the marriage plot resolves.<\/p>\n
Uneven but fitfully amusing.<\/p><\/div>\n
\n
\n
Pub Date:<\/b> July 30, 2024<\/p>\n
ISBN:<\/b> 9781250899576<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Page Count:<\/b> 384<\/p>\n
Publisher:<\/b> Henry Holt<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Review Posted Online:<\/b> Sept. 13, 2024<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Share your opinion of this book<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
![\"Readers](\"https:\/\/d1fd687oe6a92y.cloudfront.net\/img\/kir_images\/icons\/like.png\")
\n <\/li>\n![\"Our](\"https:\/\/d1fd687oe6a92y.cloudfront.net\/img\/kir_images\/icons\/check-ok.png\")
\n <\/li>\n