By: Alison Espach
The Wedding People by Alison Espach is one of those rare books that made me laugh, ache, and feel unexpectedly hopeful — sometimes all on the same page. It’s a darkly funny, sharply observed story about a woman, Phoebe, who feels like she’s lost everything: her husband has divorced her, her beloved cat has died, and she checks into a hotel with only one plan — to end her life. Instead, she finds herself the only person in the hotel who isn’t attending the same wedding, and from there, the story unfolds in such a surprising and wonderfully human way.
What I loved most about this book was Espach’s masterful use of dark humor to explore loneliness, connection, and the small, awkward ways we keep each other going. The characters feel real and flawed and so alive — especially Lila’s mom, who became my unexpected favorite. She always seems to say exactly the wrong thing to Lila, but there’s so much love and well-meaning behind it that it broke my heart a little.
I’d recommend The Wedding People to everyone, but especially to women in their 30s and up who know what it’s like to lose something, find something unexpected, and laugh about it through tears. It’s a darkly funny, tender, beautifully written novel I wouldn’t change a thing about — even if the ending doesn’t go the way I hope it will.