The Wedding People
by Alison Espach
Okay, well…hmmm. Simply put, I don’t quite understand all
the hype around this book. I went in expecting a light, beachy read…something
funny and uplifting. It even won a Goodreads Best Book of the Year award and
was described as absurdly funny. But honestly? I don’t remember laughing. At
best, it had a gentle, wry kind of humor. To be fair, I listened to the
audiobook rather than reading it…maybe that made a difference?
The story centers on Phoebe, a woman who checks into a
luxury hotel with no luggage and a dark plan: she intends to end her life using
her cat’s painkillers. Her husband has left her, her cat has died, she has no
children, and her career is going nowhere. When she arrives, she discovers that
she’s the only guest not attending the week-long wedding taking place at the
hotel.
What follows is…unexpected. (SPOILER ALERT!) After her
suicide attempt fails, Phoebe somehow ends up befriending the bride-to-be,
becoming her maid of honor (yes, really), and eventually falling in love with
the groom (also, yes, really).
Despite the far-fetched premise, I did appreciate Phoebe’s
transformation. Watching her shed the emotional restraints she’d placed on
herself and begin to live authentically was refreshing. I liked seeing how her
honesty and vulnerability influenced the people around her…strangers who were
each dealing with their own forms of disconnection.
Ultimately, I think this is a story about starting over…about
what happens after loss, and how you find your footing again when life doesn’t
go the way you planned. I especially liked the ending, where Phoebe finds a new
beginning as a “winter’s keeper.” It felt like the right note to end on: quiet,
hopeful, and honest about how sometimes the only way forward is to start anew.
So, while this one didn’t strike me as wildly funny or
groundbreaking, it offered a thoughtful reflection on reinvention, and the
courage it takes to reclaim joy. Sometimes, that’s exactly what we need: a
reminder that knowing yourself is one of life’s greatest challenges, and that
no one is coming to save you. In the end, it’s up to each of us to take
responsibility for our happiness, make the hard choices, and find the courage
to change what isn’t working so we can move forward…stronger, lighter, and
truly start to LIVE happily with purpose.
