It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people – but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall Inn who isn’t here for the big event.
Phoebe has dreamed of coming here for years. She hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband but now she is divorced and depressed, and not sure how to go on. She’s not been sure how to do anything, lately, except climb into bed and drink gin and tonics and listen to the sound of the refrigerator making ice.
When the bride discovers her elaborate destination wedding could be ruined by this sad stranger, she is furious. She has spent months accounting for every detail and every possible disaster – except for, well, Phoebe . . . Soon, both women find their best-laid plans derailed and an unlikely confidante in one another.
Uproariously funny and devastatingly tender, The Wedding People is an irresistible novel about love, friendship, dysfunctional families, and the unexpected paths that lead to happiness.
Book Info: Print length: 369 pages. Publisher: Phoenix. Publication date: 1 Aug 2024
My thoughts:
Every now and then I need to read a book that’s NOT a psychological or crime thriller and when The Wedding People popped up as a 99p offer on Amazon UK, I couldn’t resist, especially with over 115k reviews on Amazon.
Set in a luxury hotel in Newport, Rhode Island, The Wedding People is a story about grief, reinvention and emotional healing.
Phoebe Stone is the main character. Recently divorced, emotionally battered and shattered, she has arrived at the hotel with no luggage, just the clothes she is wearing and the sole intention of ending her life that evening. However, upon arrival she finds herself caught up in a lavish, no-expense spared 6 day wedding and ambushed by the young bride Lila who won’t allow Phoebe to ruin her dream wedding by committing suicide that night.
Whilst the subject matter is triggering and emotional, the author is sensitive at all times ensuring it’s never gratuitous or uncomfortable for the reader. What I didn’t expect from this book was the very dark and dry humour throughout the story, and how quickly I would fall in love with Lila and Phoebe.
This is a character led story and whilst the luxurious setting adds a layer of charm and drama to the story, it’s the relationships between the two main female characters that I absolutely loved.
This is definitely going into my Top Ten books of the year simply because I could NOT put it down. The characters burrowed deep under my skin, my heart ached and broke again and again for Phoebe, but the unexpected friendship between the two women filled me with hope.
