💡 Is there more to life after you’ve accomplished everything you thought you wanted? Years after Phoebe gets her PhD and marries the man she fell in love with, she realizes she feels unfulfilled with her current life. When her marriage ends, she stumbles upon a newfound happiness at an extravagant, week-long wedding. In The Wedding People by Allison Espach, the main character along with the readers are confronted with uncomfortable questions about marriage, loss, self-worth, and success.

An almost picture-perfect life. The book sets off as Phoebe arrives at the Cornwall Inn, fleeing her hometown St. Louis, and recovering from a divorce from a ten-year marriage. We gradually learn about her life through flashback narrations amidst her overcharged internal monologues. Depressed, lonely, and existential, Phoebe decides to come to her dream hotel to end her life.

The hotel she’s staying at happens to be entirely booked for a wedding, and she finds herself the only stranger amongst “the wedding people.” She is bothered by the contrast between the happy backdrop of a wedding and her intentions coming to the hotel. In a turn of events, she takes the elevator with the bride Lila, not realizing that it would be the start of a new friendship and a new trajectory into healing herself.

Revival through chance connections: Phoebe’s idea of a happy and successful life is crushed once years of clinging to her achievements as a young woman start losing meaning. Spending her days passively and living a routine life, she escapes through books with happy endings and familiar characters. Meeting Lila and witnessing her excessive worldly concerns and casual nature, Phoebe is forced back into the real world and its wholesome trivialities.

The book captures two seemingly opposite women who find guidance in each other’s differences. Lila both literally and figuratively brings Phoebe, once so hollow and stale, back to life. The author combines humor with candor, making it easy to sympathize and connect with Phoebe. As she navigates through old traumas and new awakenings, Phoebe’s character inspires resilience in the face of hopelessness.

WHERE TO GET IT- You can get The Wedding People at Al Masriah Al Lubnaniah, Diwan, Bibliothek, and BookSpot. You can also find the ebook on Amazon, Kobo, and Google Books.

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