A Book A Week

Over the past two years, my family has celebrated several weddings. First, my brother married his bride, a beautiful event that concluded their extended engagement due to COVID-19 and their pursuit of PhDs. The following fall, my sister-in-law had her own wedding, an out-of-town bash that was both a fantastic party and a heartfelt ceremony, bringing both smiles and tears to many eyes in the crowd. Reflecting on these events, I was struck by the vast mix of emotions that weddings bring. They are celebrations of love, commitment, and the merging of two families. However, they are also stressful, particularly for those planning and ensuring everything goes off without a hitch. In her newest novel, The Wedding People, Alison Espach delves into the complexity of these celebrations, crafting a story that explores this mix of emotions through striking commentary, humor, and good old-fashioned storytelling.

The Cornwall Inn is renowned for its pristine condition, prime location, and hosting the most luxurious weddings. Nestled in beautiful Newport, Rhode Island, the hotel and its staff excel at ensuring every event goes off without a hitch. This makes it the ideal venue for twenty-eight-year-old Lila's big day. She has meticulously planned every detail of her six-day celebration, knowing that a girl only gets one chance at the perfect wedding. Friends and family have arrived, and the festivities are set to begin.

Phoebe is depressed. There's no denying that the past year has been the worst of her life. Infertility, infidelity, divorce, and now the death of her cat have brought her to this point. She arrives at the Cornwall Inn with no bags, not planning to check out. Phoebe has sadly concluded that her life should end here, and she might as well do it in a luxurious hotel. As she enters the hotel lobby, she is immediately mistaken for one of the wedding guests. After all, everyone else is here for the celebration. She is soon roped into the festivities, leading to a chance encounter with the bride. Phoebe is the one scenario Lila didn't plan for. As the two begin to confide in each other, their unexpected meeting starts to reshape the path of both their lives.

I first encountered Alison Espach's writing through her 2022 novel Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance. That novel dealt with the sudden loss of a child from the perspective of her younger sister. Espach's ability to blend a coming-of-age story with contemplations of grief and a touch of humor made it one of my favorite reads of the year. Naturally, I was eager to read her latest novel and gladly accepted an audio copy from her publisher.

The Wedding People takes the idea of the contrasting emotions among wedding participants and maximizes it to the extreme. On one hand, we have Lila, the blushing bride, eager to start her happily ever after. On the other, Phoebe has lived a life that proves happily ever after is a myth; she's ready to end it all. By combining these characters, Espach explores the ups and downs that life can bring, delving into complex subjects such as suicide, death, infertility, divorce, and depression.

This book won't be for everyone, and I can see many choosing to avoid it purely because of the subject matter. For me, though, I appreciated the way Espach approached heavy topics with humor, grace, and zero judgment. If we could all do the same, the world would be a better place. The Wedding People is a summer read that dares to give readers something to ponder. Like her previous work, this one will no doubt be one of my favorite reads of the year.

For more information, visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads. 

(2024, 59)

"Either something was wrong with her watch, or something was wrong with time."

If you had the chance to do it all again, what would you change? Every moment in life is connected to the others that have preceded them. Each decision we make can alter the trajectory of our lives in small and large ways. That's probably why so many of us have spent time wondering to ourselves "what if". What if I never took that job? What if I never moved to that city? What if I wasn't so afraid to express my true feelings to someone else? If we spend too much time dwelling on lost possibilities, we devolve into an endless stream of hypotheticals. Still, the ability to go back and alter even just a single decision can be appealing. It is this connection of decisions and the potential to choose a different path that lies at the center of Matt Haig's hit novel The Midnight Library. 

Nora is ready to end it all. Nothing in her life matters anymore. She's stuck in a routine of working a job that means nothing to her. On the personal front, things are equally grim. Nora has squandered every relationship that ever meant anything to her. Her parents have been divorced for years. Her mother has passed away, and her father seems more intent on cherishing his new family than the one he left behind. There have been romantic prospects, but Nora always seems to screw things up before they get too serious. Her brother, the last person to actually care about her, has stopped speaking to her. Even her cat has been hit by a car. There's really nothing left. The world will be a better place without the existence of Nora, so she resolves to do the deed and end her life once and for all. 

As she emerges on the other side, Nora is surprised at what she sees. Where the pearly gates and fluffy clouds should be stands the imposing facade of a large building flanked by classical stone pillars. She opens the grand doors and is greeted by the smell of thousands of well-worn books. Nora stares at the clock on the wall, eternally frozen at midnight, still uncertain of where exactly she is. Among the book-lined shelves, Nora sees the long-forgotten face of her elementary school librarian, Mrs. Elm. Mrs. Elm explains that Nora finds herself at the Midnight Library, a place somewhere right between life and death. Each book on the shelf represents a single regret in Nora's life. If she opens it, she will be able to live out the life that she would have had if she had never made that one decision. If Nora finds a version of her life that she truly likes, she will be allowed to stay there. The moment she regrets that path, she'll be sent back to the library to choose another book. Her time there is limited. She may only have enough time to try one life, or she may get to experience many of them. One thing is certain. When the clock moves to 12:01, her time is up. 

The idea of turning back time isn't a new one. Countless works of fiction have explored the topic before, though Matt Haig gets major bonus points for centering his time-bending fiction around a library. I think a lot of us would agree that there could be worse ways to spend purgatory than being in a giant library! Haig broaches the topic of depression in a way that is both honest and endearing. The main character Nora serves as the vessel through which the author moves readers through dealing with the affliction. There's no "Groundhog Day" effect here. We aren't simply observing the same day or events over and over. Instead, each book that Nora opens transports her to a different timeline, one in which a single decision drastically altered this version compared to the one that she lived before. It takes some time for the supporting cast to round out, especially as we only meet different versions of them in the various timelines that Nora chooses. By the end, however, we see the importance of each personal relationship within her life. Yes, the ending of this book is predictably inevitable, but to decry the conclusion would be to miss the point of the work entirely. Haig posits that life is but an interconnected web of one decision after another, culminating in a world that is beautiful, tragic, brilliant, messy, and every other conceivable adjective. An existence that is uniquely our own with each experience made more meaningful because of what came before. The Midnight Library perfectly captures the intricacies of life through one of the most simple and creative presentations imaginable. It is absolutely worthy of all the hype that it has received. 

For more information visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads. 

(2022, 16)