Book review: The Wedding People by Alison Espach
Published on 04 July 2025
Genre: Fiction
Reviewer: Tish
Why I chose this book:
It was recommended on a podcast as the host’s ‘Bright Spot’ for the week.
Quick Summary:
Phoebe Stone’s life is completely crumbling. He marriage has ended, her career has stalled, and she has accepted that children are not in her future. On an impulse she books a plane ticket and a room in the hotel she has always dreamed of staying at, believing that her life is truly over.
Instead of the solitude she was expecting she finds herself caught up in the maelstrom of a wedding party that has booked the rest of the hotel, involuntarily attracting the confidence of the bride to be who is entirely preoccupied with her perfect ‘wedding week’.
Phoebe finds herself curious to find out how it all turns out and increasingly, a central participant, as things start to go off the rails.
What I thought:
*Spoilers ahead*
I didn’t really know what to expect from this book, since it was a recommendation based on a vibe. It wasn’t something I’d have picked up and read usually, but I really enjoyed it.
The characters were real and messy, and I enjoyed that the book didn’t fall into the predictable ‘happy ending’ where a heroine’s self-worth is restored by being told that that she is worth loving by another person, but rather by finding new doors to open and unexpected creative pathways to follow.
Who should read this?
TW: suicidal ideation
This book plays with the trope of the woman who reaches middle age and finds herself inconvenient instead of the main character. Instead of obligingly removing herself from the narrative, she steps into the main storyline and pushes back.
This book is for anyone who feels stalled in life and wondering if there is more for them to come in their second act, when the first did not go to plan.
Final thoughts:
A life affirming story of two women whose marriages are going unexpectedly off the rails, how they saved each other, and the real lives they found along the way.
Read-Alikes: