The third novel by American author Alison Espach skilfully combines social criticism and comedy with a moving story about a woman mourning the end of her marriage.
Superficially, The wedding people looks like an entertaining chick lit read. But it quickly tackles heavy topics like mental health, grief, and identity.
The story begins in the present day, as Professor Phoebe Stone arrives at a charming hotel in Newport, Rhode Island, wearing a stunning green silk dress and without any luggage.
The wedding people
She is immediately mistaken for one of the “wedding guests” staying at the hotel for a lavish, six-day wedding celebration.
But actually Phoebe is the only guest who does not attend the big event.
Once she wanted to come to this hotel for a romantic vacation with her husband Matt.
Instead, Matt left her.
So now Phoebe is here alone, planning to treat herself to a decadent vacation before committing suicide in the penthouse suite.
“This is the only place that feels right: a five-star hotel thousands of miles from home, full of rich strangers who won’t be upset about her death, and a staff so well trained that they’ll just nod over her corpse and then quietly lift her down the freight elevator the next morning,” Espach writes.
Meanwhile, 28-year-old bridezilla Lila has expected every possible disaster, change of plan and unforeseen situation – except Phoebe.
But somehow the women can’t stop confiding in each other. Over the course of the week, both begin to rethink their lives.
The story alternates between the present wedding events and Phoebe’s memories of her courtship and wedding.
Espach’s prose is easy to read with snappy dialogue, and the plot flows smoothly both in the present and in Phoebe’s flashbacks.
The author Espach made his debut as a novelist in 2011 with The adultsa coming-of-age story that deals with issues such as mental health, suicide and relationships.
Espach is obviously well versed in these areas and treats them with foresight and sensitivity.
She also lightens up the scenes with occasional morbid humor.
For example, when Lila tells a joke that makes Phoebe laugh so hard that she says, “I can’t breathe,” Lila replies, “Isn’t that your goal?”
Espach also avoids the trap that many chick lit authors fall into—think of Jennifer Weiner, for example—of making their characters too caricatural or exaggerated to be believable.
While Lila seems like the typical spoiled rich girl at first glance, Espach delves deeper and shows Lila’s grief over the loss of her father and her surprisingly astute self-awareness.
Lila once tells Phoebe, “I don’t think about what I want. I just worry about what might happen to me and then think about how I can prevent those things from happening.”
Espach’s novel is a solid story with a great message.
Kathryne Cardwell is a writer and settler in Treaty Area No. 1.
