Title: Wedding People
Author: Alison Espach
First, a brief summary from the publisher:
"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.
Insights and Opinions
This post should have been written much closer to the actual event in November when I still had my wits about me. But the holidays and current events intruded and so here we are. Better late than not at all.
Please note: Spoilers abound in what follows, so if you haven't read the book yet, stop here and come back later.
+ As is our wont, we began with immediate disagreement. Was the plot entirely predictable? Chris thinks yes. Steve, on the other hand, was surprised at every step. Is this a romance novel? Margy thinks "sort of," but in the best sense. Liz then asked "what makes a romance novel? If there's romance, does that make it a romance novel?" Lois admitted to thinking "Oh, why do we have to read this. This isn't literature" and then kept reading and changed her mind entirely. Ultimately, we decided that this is a deeply thoughtful book masquerading as a light read.
+ With every predictable beach-read trope, just as the reader is lulled into a false sense of assurance as to what comes next, Espach delivers a surprise. Phoebe, whose life is falling apart, is splurging with an unplanned getaway to her dream locale, unaware that everyone else is there for an over-the-top wedding. Lulled into a false sense of security, we readers assume hilarity will ensue. But then she meets and inadvertently injures the bride in an elevator and we find out her plan is to commit suicide there in the hotel. Surprise number one. The bride, horrified that a suicide will ruin her dream wedding, can't leave Phoebe alone, setting off the most unlikely of relationships. Surprise number two of many more to come.
+ Steve was taken by the way, as readers, we are led to believe we know a character, and then the author changes the game. "She introduces us to a one-dimensional person, and then flips the card. We meet the bride as a mindless twit and Phoebe as the intellectual, and then we see Phoebe as shallow. They move back and forth. How many times does she introduce a character who seems flat and now, suddenly, there's depth?"
+ Because everything in Phoebe's life has gone south and she is among strangers, she is, for the first time, able to be a truth-teller. Per Jocey: "Because of that, she grew and finally developed authentic relationships. Since reading this, I've thought of this deeply. If you weren't censoring yourself, how would you change?" Phoebe had always wanted to become more, and here, finally, she is able to become more. Steve, also an adjunct faculty member, related to Phoebe's professional life and found the book to be great academic satire. "This is a woman coming into her own under male domination. Ironically, she becomes that professor once she steps out of the ivory tower. Now she's in a place where people say 'Oh, you're the professor,' and they stop and listen." As Jocey stated, "Phoebe had started to feel stupid around her husband and friends. But in this new environment, everyone assumes she is brilliant."
+ Liz was struck by the power of the writing, as witnessed by simple, throw-away sentences, such as "her university is made of carpet," six words that say so much more and open a window into a stultifying academic life. Two of Espach's characters are named only High Bun and Neck Pillow for nearly half the book -- Phoebe's view of two of the wedding guests as she stands in line behind them waiting to check in at the hotel front desk.
+ Margy appreciated the less than tidy ending and loved the sub-plot about how apt a position as "winter keeper" at a 19th century mansion is for a 19th-century literature scholar.
+ Steve summed it all up for us: "This is a novel about surfaces and depth. Everything is a facade and a veneer and then you go deeper. Like Pauline (the front desk person), who is so attentive and warm until it's time for the next wedding and she flips the switch."
How We Read This Book
Does one's experience of a book vary depending on how one reads it? I think yes, but that's a topic for a future post. For this read, our group was all over the map.
- Chris read it on her iPad in two sittings.
- Margy read it in hardbound, starting slowly and then finishing in a marathon, which "I don't recommend because this is a book to savor."
- Steve read about two-thirds of the book as an e-book, then finished it by listening on Audible, then went back and listened to the beginning.
- Jocey read it on Kindle, twice.
- Liz read a hard copy.
Our Next Read
For January, we will read My Friends by Fredrik Backman. Jocey will host.
Jocey, Chris and Liz enjoying the wedding spread.
Liz having some sort of spell.
