The Wedding People Audiobook By Alison Espach cover art

The Wedding People

A Novel

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The Wedding People

By: Alison Espach
Narrated by: Helen Laser
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Long-listed, Library Journal Best Books of the Year, 2024

Winner, Goodreads Choice Awards, 2024

Long-listed, Time Magazine Best Books of the Year, 2024

Long-listed, Audible.com Best of the Year, 2024

Long-listed, CPL: Chicago Public Library Best of the Best, 2024

Long-listed, Amazon.com Best Books of the Year, 2024

"As narrator, the terrific Laser, an actress and puppeteer, only enhances the swoon-worthy quirks and romance."—Vulture

A Today show #ReadwithJenna Book Club Pick, A Goodreads Choice Awards 2024 Winner, and long-listed in many Best of the Year 2024 picks!

A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew.

It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other.

In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.

A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt & Company.

©2024 Alison Espach (P)2024 Macmillan Audio Best of 2024 Dark Humor Editors Select Family Life Genre Fiction Literature & Fiction Women's Fiction Funny Feel-Good Witty Suspenseful Heartfelt

Critic reviews

A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice
The #1 Indie Next Pick for August 2024
One of The Washington Post’s 10 Noteworthy Books for July and August
Named a Best Book of Summer 2024 by People Magazine, Bustle, Star Tribune, Goodreads, and LitHub

“The Wedding People is the perfect book to wrap up your summer reading. . . . heartwarming [and] hilarious.”
—Jenna Bush Hager, The Today Show's #ReadwithJenna

“The Wedding People is so much more than a funny story (though it is very funny). Espach has penned a keenly observed novel about depression, love, the ways women make themselves small, and how one woman got over it. Fully realized and completely memorable.”
—Booklist (starred review)

“Espach’s wit and warmth deliver a gratifying story about how people who have given up might find a reason to start caring again.”
—Becky Meloan, The Washington Post

Editorial Review

I’ll toast to that!
Feeling salty about beachfront displays of affection? As am I, along with Phoebe Stone, the spiraling protagonist of Alison Espach’s latest novel, who, newly single and depressed, has hot summer plans to self-sabotage in style at an elegant Newport resort. However, upon her arrival, she unexpectedly befriends a cohort of, you guessed it, wedding people, who would rather count Phoebe as an extra head for the caterers than have her potentially ruin the ceremony by being left unattended while erratically heartbroken. It doesn’t take long for Phoebe and the bride to bond over their underlying anxieties, and narrator Helen Laser’s spot-on delivery of all the witty insights embedded in this novel certainly makes it easy to fall for the vibrant cast of characters. So, if you too are in need of a summer pick-me-up, take a page out of Phoebe’s book and vicariously masquerade as a posh, pearl-clad sophisticate while opening up to this cynical yet ultimately heartfelt listen. — Haley H., Audible Editor

Witty Dialogue • Authentic Characters • Emotional Depth • Unexpected Twists • Balanced Humor • Perfect Voice Casting
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Great story. But why did the writer feel the need to drop the F bomb every other page? It seemed totally out of place and unnecessary for the majority of the characters to be saying it and felt forced and just there for attention. And the reader felt the need to emphasize it as well. Would have been much better without that included so much.

What the F?

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The audio was off at times. But the story was great. Wish I would have had the physical book for this one. 5/5 on the book/story

Heartfelt and funny

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Do any of us ever understand who we really are? Who were you in the global shutdown? Did you flourish and get stuff completed? Did you curl up in the blanket on the couch and watch the news 24/7? It’s amazing how differently we all reacted…and this story truly brings a long bout of depression to the light. Why are most of us scared to tell the people closest to us how we really feel?

Thought-provoking, insightful

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The start of the story was depressing but it becomes really interesting once Phoebe is at the venue with the wedding people. It was emotional and funny.

Dark and Funny

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Was not my typical read, but I could not stop listening to it. I’m searching for another book from the same author and narrator.

Loved it

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This is probably my favorite read of the year so far! This story was so original, there were no cliches and I enjoyed all the characters.

Great!

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This book was outstanding! I loved it from start to finish! You won’t regret reading it!

Read it!

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Plot full of hard truths of life, with sassy responses. The story was pretty predictable but that didn’t stop me wanting to stop reading.

Real- not a fairytale

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I liked the ‘awakenings ‘ that each character went through during the week leading up to the wedding .

The story line was interesting and the characters were well developed.

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We all know at least some of these wedding guests. That’s what makes it a bit of crazy fun. A bit predictable, but a fun read. All brides could use a Phoebe to help them navigate their big day.

Crazy Wedding Fun

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