Book Club Questions for The Wedding People by Alison Espach

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Book club questions for The Wedding People by Alison Espach takes an in-depth look at this novel about grief, and moving on. There will be spoilers so for more context about the book, check out my spoiler-free review first.

I liked this one overall! I was really engaged with it at the start. As I mentioned in my review, I did feel it had a bit too many flashbacks with Phoebe’s ex. Of course, there was a need for the reader to understand their relationship but sometimes flashbacks can take away too much from the present storyline.

I’m a bit mixed on how I feel about Phoebe and Gary. I almost prefer if they would have remained friends, and both found someone new when they were emotionally ready. I thought it was a little too convenient that they seemed to be a ‘perfect’ match. But that’s just my thoughts on it.

Let me know your thoughts on the book!

The Synopsis

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.

Book Club Questions for The Wedding People

1. Let’s start with Phoebe at the beginning of the story. She is broken and plans to commit suicide at the hotel. First, were you surprised at the dark tone that started the novel?
2. Why did Phoebe choose this particular hotel?
3. Phoebe’s plans are forever altered when there’s a wedding being held at the hotel. Let’s talk about the first encounter between Phoebe and Lila, the bride. Why do you think they both were instantly so honest with each other?
4. As Phoebe learns more about the interesting interactions that are taking place at the hotel, she starts to reconsider her plans to end her life. What were your thoughts as this scene unfolded?
5. Phoebe goes to the hot tub, and meets a man there who she instantly connects with. Despite being shy and reserved in the past, she is upfront about what she wants from him. Why do you think Phoebe start to shed her reserved nature and become more outspoken?
6. The man is actually Gary, the groom who is set to marry Lila. What was your impression of Gary? And what was behind the connection between Phoebe and him? In what ways are they similar?
7. The story features plenty of flashbacks as we learn that Phoebe’s ex-husband Matt cheated on her with a colleague, and initiated the divorce. Why was it important for the reader to read these flashbacks?
8. In what ways was Phoebe holding herself back with her relationship with Matt, and even in her career?
9. Phoebe hoped to become a mother, but it wasn’t in the cards for her, at least to have a biological child. Let’s talk about how this revelation impacted both Phoebe and her relationship with Matt.
10. What did you think about the other cast of characters, including Juice (Gary’s daughter), Marla (Gary’s sister), and Jim (Gary’s best friend, and brother of Gary’s first wife who passed away)?
11. The novel covers grief quite a bit. From Phoebe grieving the end of her marriage and not becoming a biological mother to Gary and Juice’s grief of losing a wife and mother. How do you feel the novel handled grief, and moving forward?
12. When did it become apparent that Lila and Gary weren’t a good fit?
13. Matt eventually seeks Phoebe out at the hotel when he’s concerned she didn’t show up at work, and didn’t answer text messages. The two seemingly reconcile, but in the end, Phoebe realized they had outgrown each other. What were your thoughts about their final reunion, and officially finding closure?
14. Were you surprised when Lila called off the wedding?
15. What did you think about the ending? What happens next for Phoebe, Gary, Lila and Jim?
16. Did Phoebe and Gary end up together? What are your thoughts about that?
17. What was the most memorable wedding you’ve attended?

Additional Recommendations

Hope you enjoyed book club questions for The Wedding People! Here are some more recommendations along with links to book club questions.

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s enchanting blockbuster novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

Flight attendant Allegra Patel loves her job, but today is her twenty-eighth birthday and she’d rather not be placating a plane full of passengers unhappy about a long delay. There’s the well-dressed man in seat 4C desperate not to miss his daughter’s musical. A harried mother frantically tries to keep her toddler and baby quiet. Honeymooners still in their wedding finery dream of their new lives, while a chatty emergency room nurse dreams of retirement. 

Suddenly a woman traveling alone stands. She walks down the aisle making predictions about how and when passengers will die. Some dismiss her, they don’t believe in psychics. Some are delighted with her prophecies! Their lives will supposedly be long. Others are appalled. 

Then: a few months later, the first prediction comes true.

Happy reading!