The Wedding People: A Novel

The runaway New York Times bestseller with over one million copies sold
A Today Show #ReadwithJenna Book Club Pick, New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, and a #1 Indie Next Pick
Named a Best Book of the Year by The Guardian, Time, Chicago Tribune Biblioracle, HuffPost, US Magazine, Elle, Real Simple, and Glamour

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.

Alison Espach is the New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding People, a New York Times Editor’s Choice, a Today Show Read with Jenna Book Club Pick, a Barnes and Noble Book Club Pick, and a #1 Indie Next Pick. The Wedding People spent several dozen weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list and will be published in over 35 countries. She is also the author of Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance, a Chicago Tribune and NPR “Best Book of the Year,” as well as The Adults, a New York Times Editor’s Choice and Barnes and Noble Discover Pick. Her fictional audio series In-Depth Market Research Interviews with Dead People is an Audible Original. She has written for McSweeney’s, Vogue, Outside, LitHub, Joyland and other places. She lives and teaches creative writing in Rhode Island.

Alison received her MFA from Washington University in St. Louis. She has been a writer-in-residence at the Ucross Foundation for the Arts, Millay Arts, The Wassaic Project, the Cuttyhunk Writers Residency and the San Miguel Literary Sala.

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

“A collision of diametrically opposed life events and general drama, the likes of which we haven’t seen since Maggie Shipstead’s Seating Arrangements. . . . Espach has an eye for the full gamut of emotions that go hand in hand with lifelong commitment, from humor to self-involvement to pathos.”
―Elisabeth Egan, The New York Times Book 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

“Deeply satisfying. . . . A story of what it means to lift oneself out of one life and into another through acts of individual will and fellowship with others. . . . Espach is now three for three on delivering funny, emotionally moving explorations of the difficulties people have in being themselves.”
―John Warner, Chicago Tribune

“A feel-good testament to the life-altering magic of chance meetings.”
―People

“Deceptively complex...Espach’s story of a life-changing chance encounter is as rewarding as it is unexpected.”
―Lucy Feldman, Time

“A refreshingly sharp and funny examination of loss, love and wrestling with the expectations we have for our lives. This book is the rare lush escape that avoids falling into predictability; the characters feel full and real, and offer genuine moments of insight and warmth amidst their quirky circumstances.”
―Jillian Capewell, HuffPost

“Espach thumbs the depths of emotions most of us would fear speaking aloud, not to mention pour out on the page. It's honest, wry and delightfully unpredictable.”
―Anna Kaufman, USA Today

“Full of witty dialogue and lovably imperfect characters you’ll root for till the end.”
―Real Simple

“They say a good actor can read a phone book and still keep an audience spellbound. Alison Espach is that kind of writer. She is a master of taking the seemingly mundane and creating moments that transfix.”
―Maren Longbella, Star Tribune

“Filled with hilarious scenes and brilliant banter.”
―Marion Winik, Newsday

“By deftly invoking many popular romantic comedy tropes, Espach fills this novel with champagne-tinged fizz, while never losing sight of the more sober emotional truths that kicked off her narrative.”
―Bustle

“It’s simply delightful, entertaining, and heartfelt.”
―Stephanie McNeal, Glamour

“Think: Eleanor Oliphant and Meredith, Alone vibes. As of this writing, The Wedding People is my favorite book of 2024.”
―Isabelle Eyman, Camille Styles

“Witty dialogue is just a bonus in this engrossing read centering on complex women making life-changing decisions. Recommend to readers who enjoy Sally Rooney, Curtis Sittenfeld, or Elizabeth Berg.”
―Library Journal (st