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Ask a bookseller
Emily Bright

Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Wedding People’ by Alison Espach

Ask a Bookseller Podcast
Ask a Bookseller
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On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.

Maggie Robe of Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, N.C., loves a good character-driven novel. She recommends Alison Espach’s new dark comedy, “The Wedding People.”

Espach rose to acclaim for her novels “The Adults” and “Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance,” and this new work has already been optioned for film by TriStar.

A book cover
"The Wedding People" by Alison Espach.
Courtesy of Henry Holt and Co.

The novel is a second-chance story about Phoebe Stone, who checks in at a lovely hotel in Newport, R.I., fleeing a crumbled marriage and with plans to end her life. She finds she’s booked the one room not taken by a wedding party. The bride has planned a full week of events for her guests.

Separated by about 20 years of age and at very different stages of life, Phoebe and the bride form a friendship. Not only that, but the wedding guests — all memorable characters — keep engaging with Phoebe, reminding her of reasons to live again.  

Maggie says it’s a joyous book, despite the dark topic of its opening: 

“It’s just a really fun story, very different. It’s about just finally speaking your mind and understanding yourself and being brave enough to do so, and just living life. I love good characters that just entertain me and make me laugh and cry. It made for a great summer read.”