“The Wedding People,” by Alison Espach
(2024, 363 pages, Genre: Fiction/Romance)
Phoebe Stone arrives at the Cornwall Inn in Newport, RI. Spiraling two years after an unexpected divorce from her professor husband, she booked the nicest, most expensive suite there, and flew from St. Louis with no luggage, wearing the fanciest dress in her closet. At check-in, she is immediately assumed to be part of the wedding party who has booked the rest of the hotel for a five-day wedding extravaganza. She meets the bride, Lila, when she rushes into the lobby elevator as Phoebe is trying to escape the crowds of wedding people checking in. Lila has planned a “perfect” wedding, which starts with having booked the entire hotel for their guests, and is quite unhappy to learn that Phoebe somehow got a reservation during her event.
Phoebe and Lila immediately engage, both of them somehow free to be honest with each other as they are strangers without any emotional or family connection. They end up being sounding boards, with Lila pulling Phoebe into an active role in the wedding party. This strange relationship ends up bringing Phoebe back to life, as she can’t help wondering how this wedding is going to unfold. The relationships between wedding party members, and the bride and groom themselves are gradually revealed as the week progresses.
The book does a good job of showing Phoebe and her ex-husband’s history, to explain how Phoebe got to this point in her life. It also develops Lila and other family members’ characters well, and engages the reader in their drama. While the premise of the book is a little (a lot) unlikely, I thought it was an enjoyable read.
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Meredith Dahlrose
