While floating on Norris Lake two summers ago, I turned the last page of Alison Espach’s second novel, Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance. The story about grief and loss was difficult to read, so when The Wedding People was published earlier this year, I was hesitant. Finally, the critics’ reviews, the setting and the cover persuaded me to read The Wedding People.
Phoebe dreamed of staying at the Cornwall Inn and the wonderful vacation she and her husband would have in Newport, Rhode Island. She books the Inn and arrives without her husband or any luggage to find the Inn has been booked for a wedding and the weeklong festivities leading up to it. Phoebe is the only guest at the Inn not invited to the wedding.
Lila is the bride who meticulously planned every detail of her dream wedding. However, she did not account for an uninvited guest and especially not for what Phoebe has planned.
Phoebe and Lila are strangers, but as the story progresses, they become the type of friend to one another everyone needs. Honest, straightforward, loyal. Above all else, their friendship leads the women to become better versions of themselves.
Alison Espach writes about serious themes with humor in a unique way, and the reading experience is a combination of light and dark comedy. I have mixed feelings about the novel. Did I love it? No. Am I still thinking about it three months later? Yes.
Trigger and content warnings: attempted suicide and suicidal ideation, depression, infertility and miscarriage.
Look for this recommendation and other books at Knox County Online Library or your local independent bookstore each week.
Linda Sullivan is an avid reader and wants to make you one, too. For more recommendations or just to talk books, reach out to her at thebookwhisperertn@gmail.com. She can also be found @thebookwhisperertn on Instagram.
