Discussion of ‘The Wedding People’ (2024) by Alison Espach

Join us for dinner and a discussion of the book The Wedding People by Alison Espach.

Restaurant: TBD

Summary (from Goodreads):

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.

Page Count: 367

Genre: Romance, Fiction

Year Published: 2024

This book is available through local public library systems in both physical and electronic formats (Lexington Public Library, Richland County Library).

Bring, at least, 3 observations and 3 questions about the book (keeping this open-ended, but this could include the characters, specific plot details, comparing it to other books, and critiques of the discussed book).