Alison Espach

A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew.

It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other.

In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.

A Novel

The Wedding People

Kalinda Anabelle

"But it's also true that this wedding will never be a waste" Phoebe says. "Because I came here to die. And now look at me."

Mckenzie Collard

And maybe they are all lonely. Maybe this is just what it means to be a person. To constantly reckon with being a single being in one body. Maybe everybody sits up at night and creates arguments in their head for why they are the loneliest person in the world.

debbie <3

I just don’t know why it’s so hard to be a person sometimes. It shouldn’t be this hard. It makes no sense.

Coley T

after reading the first couple pages, i was shocked with how candid this book is. i had a long rollercoaster journey reading this book.

The first 50 pages are just depressing and boring! After that I am ashamed to admit I was hooked

All the characters are unbelievably unlikeable (there wasn’t even a side character I liked)…but then I feel like that’s the point of book. Portraying humans as just humans.

Ella Williams

This book was a weird one

The first 50 pages are just depressing and boring! After that I am ashamed to admit I was hooked

All the characters are unbelievably unlikeable (there wasn’t even a side character I liked)…but then I feel like that’s the point of book. Portraying humans as just humans.

I think one and a half star for the really good points that resonated with me on selfhood and what ot means to take care of yourself in spite of everything but unfortunately this book often makes that its folly! This was an author talking to herself at length with nothing else to say about herself. It was. Interesting to say the least. I did not like it.

shaye

TBR Roulette #61

I think one and a half star for the really good points that resonated with me on selfhood and what ot means to take care of yourself in spite of everything but unfortunately this book often makes that its folly! This was an author talking to herself at length with nothing else to say about herself. It was. Interesting to say the least. I did not like it.

Samantha Waterson

Very easy story… fun. Maybe not the best, but definitely entertaining.

Jennifer Palmer

Overall an interesting story - found the ending a little too up in the air for how detailed we got during the book about the characters. But overall a weird fun ride 

Paige Paul

This book was so so so good! It was a true rollercoaster of emotions and I really couldnt work out what was gonna happen or what I wanted to happen. The ending was honestly perfect for the character progression and I don't think any other end would have been right. Phoebe was annoyingly selfless at times but, as a chronic people pleaser myself, I couldn't hold that against her! Such a well done and refreshing read

Soph

This book really took me by surprise in the best way! When I first started reading, I wasn’t sure I’d connect with the main character. She came across as a bit distant, and I worried the story was going to be overwhelmingly bleak. But as the plot unfolded and she entered that hotel, it felt like a space suspended from her reality in a way. The book became something much more than a story about a suicidal woman choosing her final moments. 

What really struck me was how the main character interacted with the other guests. There was a kind of raw honesty to her, like someone who had nothing to lose. That attitude, I think born from her belief that she shouldn’t even be alive, made her not hold back anything in her conversations. I think everyone felt so drawn to her because she contrasted so starkly with the guests around her who were constantly concerned with appearances and expectations.

I also really enjoyed how her personal history, particularly the background of her marriage, was gradually revealed, even as she was building this very natural, subtle connection with the groom. Their relationship didn’t feel forced, and just seemed to grew through shared understanding and quiet moments away from the tension of the event. 

The pacing did lag slightly in the middle. The book relies heavily on Phoebe’s internal monologue, and at times it slowed things down a bit. The ending, though, was beautiful. I loved how everything was contained within the hotel, and how symbolic it was for the main character’s journey. When she finally stepped outside—without even looking back—it felt like such a powerful, poetic act of letting go. She was ready to move forward. This was a really unexpected and great read for me. 

Eimear O'Connor 

This book really took me by surprise in the best way! When I first started reading, I wasn’t sure I’d connect with the main character. She came across as a bit distant, and I worried the story was going to be overwhelmingly bleak. But as the plot unfolded and she entered that hotel, it felt like a space suspended from her reality in a way. The book became something much more than a story about a suicidal woman choosing her final moments. 

What really struck me was how the main character interacted with the other guests. There was a kind of raw honesty to her, like someone who had nothing to lose. That attitude, I think born from her belief that she shouldn’t even be alive, made her not hold back anything in her conversations. I think everyone felt so drawn to her because she contrasted so starkly with the guests around her who were constantly concerned with appearances and expectations.

I also really enjoyed how her personal history, particularly the background of her marriage, was gradually revealed, even as she was building this very natural, subtle connection with the groom. Their relationship didn’t feel forced, and just seemed to grew through shared understanding and quiet moments away from the tension of the event. 

The pacing did lag slightly in the middle. The book relies heavily on Phoebe’s internal monologue, and at times it slowed things down a bit. The ending, though, was beautiful. I loved how everything was contained within the hotel, and how symbolic it was for the main character’s journey. When she finally stepped outside—without even looking back—it felt like such a powerful, poetic act of letting go. She was ready to move forward. This was a really unexpected and great read for me. 

Madilyn Taylor

Pretty standard summer/ beach read. Entertaining but formulaic.

Sarah Erle

I did not expect to love this as much as I did, but the whole story was an experience. I laughed harder than I have from a book in awhile. The content of the book itself is very heavy, but the way it’s done is in a cathartic, healing style. Can’t recommend enough! 

GLORIOUS. Written so well, the perfect summer read for a literary fiction lover (said by someone who hates summer romance books). Phoebe is so adoring as a character—just a regular, ordinary, realistic, and lovable person. I'm sure this well end as one of my fav reada of the year. 

Bibi

A rom com! Easy to read, entertaining, and a bit silly.

Kaitlyn Wendler

Loved!!! Such good writing. Adored all characters and had such a strong theme. Nothing monumental, but refreshing 

Allysen

Did it for book club. Should've known by the cover.

Maxine Tsang

Jessica Kovalick

Fun, easy read, using an interesting slightly unbelievable scenario to shed light on love and loss. 

Sarah Wilson

Slightly predictable romance in an unpredictable setting. Explores what it is to be human and live unapologetically 

✨There is no such thing as a happy place. Because when you are happy, everywhere is a happy place. And when you are sad, everywhere is a sad place.

✨Phoebe doesn’t know how some girls grow up to become women like the bride, or like Mia, who treat everything, even this nineteenth-century mansion, even Phoebe’s husband, as their inheritance.

✨When did Phoebe being good become Phoebe being nothing?

✨Then she dials room service. “Yes, I’d like to order coffee with cream and sugar,” Lila says into the telephone. “Two eggs. And the Patriotic French Toast.” “Patriotic French Toast?” Phoebe asks when Lila hangs up. “What war did it serve in?” “Maybe it’s shaped like a flag or something,” Lila says. “Maybe it votes.” Lila gives a half laugh, like a horse caught by surprise. “For a suicidal person, you’re kind of funny.” “Thanks.”

✨Phoebe prefers this new way of talking. And maybe this is just one of the really nice things about getting older. Maybe this is the part of her life when she gets to start saying what she means, for better or worse. Because no amount of truth can be worse than the feeling she got after years of hiding from it.

✨And why does she do this? Why does she have a nice day with people, feel connected to them, and then, when alone, think only about the possible horrors of her isolation ahead?

✨Phoebe was the only person waiting in the dark to condemn herself for every single thing when the day was over.

✨“When does the pretending stop?” Lila asks. “I’d like to say whenever you want it to,” Phoebe says, but she knows this isn’t true. It’s harder than that. “But I think it stops when you get fed up.” “Fed up with what?” “Yourself,” Phoebe says.

✨But Phoebe is starting to understand that on some nights, Lila is probably the loneliest girl in the world, just like Phoebe. And maybe they are all lonely. Maybe this is just what it means to be a person. To constantly reckon with being a single being in one body. Maybe everybody sits up at night and creates arguments in their head for why they are the loneliest person in the world.

✨“I never think about what I might actually like.” “What do you mean?” “I mean, I just worry,” Lila says. “I don’t think about what I want, I just worry about what might happen to me and then figure out how to keep those things from happening. And when I think I know what I want, I don’t even really know,

✨“Your husband is not going to take care of you the way you think,” Phoebe says. “Nobody can take care of you the way you need to take care of yourself. It’s your job to take care of yourself like that.”

✨I just don’t know why it’s so hard to be a person sometimes. It shouldn’t be this hard. It makes no sense.”

✨We used to create themed drinks for, like, Presidents’ Day. And it was perfect. It really was. But life is strange, always thinking this one thing is going to make you happy, because then you get it, and then maybe you’re not as happy as you imagined you would be, because every day is still just every day. Like the happiness becomes so big, you have no choice but to live inside of it, until you can no longer see it or feel it. And so you start to fixate on something else—you want a child, and then the child is here, and that happiness is so big, it begins to feel like nothing. Like just the air around you.”

✨How many times does a person do this over a lifetime? Is that just what life is?

✨“I think we talk about happiness all wrong. As if it’s this fixed state we’re going to reach. Like we’ll just be able to live there, forever. But that’s not my experience with happiness. For me, it comes and goes. It shows up and then disappears like a bubble.”

✨becoming who you want to be is just like anything else. It takes practice. It requires belief that one day, you’ll wake up and be a natural at it.

Mariaaa

✨There is no such thing as a happy place. Because when you are happy, everywhere is a happy place. And when you are sad, everywhere is a sad place.

✨Phoebe doesn’t know how some girls grow up to become women like the bride, or like Mia, who treat everything, even this nineteenth-century mansion, even Phoebe’s husband, as their inheritance.

✨When did Phoebe being good become Phoebe being nothing?

✨Then she dials room service. “Yes, I’d like to order coffee with cream and sugar,” Lila says into the telephone. “Two eggs. And the Patriotic French Toast.” “Patriotic French Toast?” Phoebe asks when Lila hangs up. “What war did it serve in?” “Maybe it’s shaped like a flag or something,” Lila says. “Maybe it votes.” Lila gives a half laugh, like a horse caught by surprise. “For a suicidal person, you’re kind of funny.” “Thanks.”

✨Phoebe prefers this new way of talking. And maybe this is just one of the really nice things about getting older. Maybe this is the part of her life when she gets to start saying what she means, for better or worse. Because no amount of truth can be worse than the feeling she got after years of hiding from it.

✨And why does she do this? Why does she have a nice day with people, feel connected to them, and then, when alone, think only about the possible horrors of her isolation ahead?

✨Phoebe was the only person waiting in the dark to condemn herself for every single thing when the day was over.

✨“When does the pretending stop?” Lila asks. “I’d like to say whenever you want it to,” Phoebe says, but she knows this isn’t true. It’s harder than that. “But I think it stops when you get fed up.” “Fed up with what?” “Yourself,” Phoebe says.

✨But Phoebe is starting to understand that on some nights, Lila is probably the loneliest girl in the world, just like Phoebe. And maybe they are all lonely. Maybe this is just what it means to be a person. To constantly reckon with being a single being in one body. Maybe everybody sits up at night and creates arguments in their head for why they are the loneliest person in the world.

✨“I never think about what I might actually like.” “What do you mean?” “I mean, I just worry,” Lila says. “I don’t think about what I want, I just worry about what might happen to me and then figure out how to keep those things from happening. And when I think I know what I want, I don’t even really know,

✨“Your husband is not going to take care of you the way you think,” Phoebe says. “Nobody can take care of you the way you need to take care of yourself. It’s your job to take care of yourself like that.”

✨I just don’t know why it’s so hard to be a person sometimes. It shouldn’t be this hard. It makes no sense.”

✨We used to create themed drinks for, like, Presidents’ Day. And it was perfect. It really was. But life is strange, always thinking this one thing is going to make you happy, because then you get it, and then maybe you’re not as happy as you imagined you would be, because every day is still just every day. Like the happiness becomes so big, you have no choice but to live inside of it, until you can no longer see it or feel it. And so you start to fixate on something else—you want a child, and then the child is here, and that happiness is so big, it begins to feel like nothing. Like just the air around you.”

✨How many times does a person do this over a lifetime? Is that just what life is?

✨“I think we talk about happiness all wrong. As if it’s this fixed state we’re going to reach. Like we’ll just be able to live there, forever. But that’s not my experience with happiness. For me, it comes and goes. It shows up and then disappears like a bubble.”

✨becoming who you want to be is just like anything else. It takes practice. It requires belief that one day, you’ll wake up and be a natural at it.

A totally unexpected, and super enjoyable read. A story of how when you think you’re at rock bottom, life can turn on a sixpence. 

Aims

i went into this book literally knowing nothing and before i hit page like 40 i was like wtf did i get myself into lol. thought this was going to be a depressing read but its a hopeful story. i really enjoyed that both female mcs are older (lates 20s, early 40s), and like seeing them both find their voice, accepting themselves and just like seeing them tackle real problems/fears i feel a lot of women have. at least the problems/fears covered are ones that consume my brain a lot LOL. 

however i didnt laugh during this book, know a lot of people find it funny, i didnt. i found the end of the book to be a bit of a drag as well, but other than that really enjoyed this one. 

alice l

i went into this book literally knowing nothing and before i hit page like 40 i was like wtf did i get myself into lol. thought this was going to be a depressing read but its a hopeful story. i really enjoyed that both female mcs are older (lates 20s, early 40s), and like seeing them both find their voice, accepting themselves and just like seeing them tackle real problems/fears i feel a lot of women have. at least the problems/fears covered are ones that consume my brain a lot LOL. 

however i didnt laugh during this book, know a lot of people find it funny, i didnt. i found the end of the book to be a bit of a drag as well, but other than that really enjoyed this one. 

This was the most fun I've had reading about a depressed, suicidal woman. Although it follows the classic rom-com formula, what sets it apart is its genuine emotional depth and the author's skill in seamlessly weaving humour into such heavy themes. As the saying goes, "comedy is tragedy plus time," and this book exemplifies that perfectly. Alison Espach's ability to balance laughter and poignancy makes it a truly captivating read.

The Wedding People A Novel

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