The Wedding People is a current best-selling contemporary fiction novel about Phoebe who, with the help of the members of a wedding party, pulls herself from the brink of suicide and even falls unexpectedly in love. The fantastic narration makes this a story best listened to rather than read.

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Let’s begin with a quick summary of The Wedding People and then I’ll discuss my likes and dislikes.

Phoebe is a college professor who has been depressed for a long time. She has a mediocre career, and attempts at IVF have been a dismal failure. The depression and inability to conceive a child have strained her formerly happy marriage. She thinks she has hit rock bottom when her husband has an affair and leaves her, but then her beloved cat dies and that’s the last straw.

Phoebe decides to kill herself in style. She puts on her nicest dress and travels to Newport, Rhode Island to stay in a high-end hotel. When she checks in, she finds out that she’s the only hotel guest who isn’t participating in an expensive wedding, although she’s immediately mistaken for a wedding guest.

She’s caught up in the wedding energy right away when she encounters two bridesmaids at the check in counter. And then the bride mistakes her for one of her groom’s guests and gives her a gift bag full of wedding favors. But the bride becomes much less welcoming when Phoebe explains she’s there to commit suicide. Her inner bridezilla comes out as she demands that Phoebe not ruin her wedding by becoming a corpse in the hotel where she is getting married. This begins an unlikely connection between Phoebe and bride Lila.

That night – the night before she plans to die – she makes another connection in the hotel’s hot tub. A man is in the hot tub, and they instantly click. Phoebe likes that he seems to “see” her and meets her suicide confession with sympathy and understanding. But the spell is broken when Phoebe crudely propositions him.

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In the hours leading up to her planned death, Phoebe continues to interact with the wedding party and guests and becomes increasingly invested in getting to know them as well as following the events of the wedding week. She ends up reversing her suicide attempt by making herself throw up the handful of fish flavored cat pain killers she had swallowed.

The wedding party and guests “adopt” Phoebe by including her in their plans and conversations. And she begins to understand the beauty of life. While she’s far away from her old life in St. Louis, she’s able to do a lot of soul searching and begins to understand her past and begin to plan her future. She’s also finally able to let go of her ex-husband and fall in love with another man.

I’ll end my The Wedding People summary here because I don’t want to give too much away.

I have mixed feelings about The Wedding People.

On the positive side, I like its message of hope and self-discovery. Phoebe finds out that she needs a fresh start – to leave her old life behind – rather than choosing death. The goodness of strangers helps her realize this, which adds much warmth to the story.

The novel was also funny – sometimes laugh out loud funny. This is where the narrator shines. The bride has a gift for mimicking people, so Helen Laser is able to showcase her vocal talents, often with hilarious effects.

So, positive message, humor, and a terrific narrator are all good things about The Wedding People.

Now for the negatives.

The novel is unusually and unnecessarily crass. There are a TON of f-bombs and crude references to sex. I don’t mind some cursing scattered throughout a story. Cuss words can convey strong emotions and the severity of a situation. But the use of the F word is over the top in The Wedding People. Phoebe even propositions the man in the hot tub with a crude question – “Do you want to f**k.” The repetitive crudeness added an ick factor for me.

The other downside was the insta-love. In less than a week, Phoebe fell deeply in love with someone she considered to be her soul mate. And the fact that he is already taken sets her up for more despair. I can buy feeling a deep attraction for someone in such a short time frame, but not true love.

And then there was the usual Catholic bashing… (yawn)

I think if you like women’s literature with some snark and humor, you’ll probably like The Wedding People.

Have you read The Wedding People? What did you think?

For a completely different wedding story, check out my review of The Guest List by Lucy Foley.