The Wedding People by Alison Espach is a funny and deeply human novel about grief, loneliness, friendship, and the unexpected ways strangers can change the course of our lives. When Phoebe Stone arrives alone at a luxury hotel in Newport, Rhode Island, she is mistaken for one of the guests attending a lavish wedding. Instead, she has come to the hotel with a very different plan. Her unexpected connection with the bride, Lila, and the other wedding guests creates a weekend where people begin dropping their carefully constructed roles and telling the truth.

If you are reading The Wedding People with your book club, these discussion questions will help the conversation about Phoebe, Lila, grief, marriage, friendship, loneliness, and more! We curated these questions for readers looking to host or join book discussions on the Bookum app, where book reader gather to talk about the books they love.

The Characters

1 - What was your first impression of Phoebe when she arrives at the Cornwall Inn? Did your opinion of her change as you learned more about her? Have you ever taken a solo trip? Share your experiences

2 - Phoebe arrives believing she has very little left to lose. How does that mindset change the way she interacts with the people around her?

3 - Lila is initially almost the complete opposite of Phoebe. What do you think these two women recognize in each other despite their very different circumstances?

4 - Why do you think Lila becomes so interested in Phoebe even though Phoebe is a complete stranger?

5 - The wedding guests initially make assumptions about Phoebe because she appears to be part of the wedding. How does the novel look at the difference between what people assume about us and who we actually are?

6 - Which character did you initially misunderstand the most? What changed your perception of them? In your own life, Are there any people you had bad first impressions of that you later became friends with?

Weddings and Expectations

7 - The entire hotel is consumed by Lila's wedding. What does the wedding represent to the different characters in the novel?

8 - What does the novel suggest about the difference between having the life you planned and actually having a fulfilling life?

9 - Lila has spent enormous energy trying to control every detail of her wedding. Why do you think control is so important to her? Are there areas of your life were you are controlling?

10 - How does Phoebe's presence disrupt the version of happiness that Lila has carefully constructed?

11 - What does The Wedding People suggest about marriage compared with other forms of love, friendship, or connection?

12 - Do you think the novel is ultimately cynical about marriage, hopeful about it, or somewhere in between? What moments led you to that conclusion?

Book Themes of Starting Over

13 - Phoebe carries enormous grief and disappointment into the hotel. How does her grief affect the way she sees herself and the people around her?

14 - The novel looks at the pressure people feel to appear "okay" even when they are struggling. Why do you think people often hide their pain from others? How can we better to help people in our own lives?

15 - Phoebe's honesty becomes one of the most unusual things about her. How does being freed from the need to impress or please other people change her?

16 - What role does loneliness play in Phoebe's story? Is being physically alone the same as feeling emotionally alone?

17 - Phoebe has experienced things that cannot simply be fixed or erased. What does the novel suggest about learning to live with pain rather than waiting for pain to disappear?

18 - Was there a particular moment when you realized Phoebe might actually be able to imagine a future for herself? What changed?

Friendship and Connections

19 - Phoebe enters the story as an outsider, yet she becomes someone people feel comfortable revealing their secrets to. Why do you think strangers can sometimes be easier to talk to than people who know us well?

20 - How does Phoebe's openness influence the people around her? Do you think her honesty gives other characters permission to be more honest themselves?

21 - What does the title "The Wedding People" mean you after finishing the book?

22 - Which relationship in the novel felt the most meaningful to you, and why?

23 - Humor appears alongside some of the novel's darkest subjects. Why do you think Alison Espach (the author) uses comedy when dealing with grief, loneliness, disappointment, and despair? Did the humor make the heavier moments more effective?

24 - By the end of The Wedding People, Phoebe's life has not magically become perfect. What do you think the novel ultimately says about starting over, and what does Phoebe teach us about finding a way forward when life does not turn out the way we expected?

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