Alison Espach

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.

A Novel

The Wedding People

"The summer before Sally Holt starts the eighth grade begins as a gloriously uneventful one, full of family trips to the beach and long afternoons at the local pool with her older sister Kathy, which they mostly use as an excuse to ogle Billy Barnes, who works the concession stand there. Their fascination with him is one of the few things the increasingly different sisters have in common. By summer's end Billy and Kathy are an item-an unthinkable stroke of luck that ends in an even more unthinkable tragedy. Set over the course of fifteen years, charting shared history and missed connections, NOTES ON YOUR SUDDEN DISAPPEARANCE is both a breathtaking love story between two broken people who are unexplainably, inconveniently drawn to each other, and a wry, sharply observant coming-of-age story that looks at the ways the people we love the most continue to shape our lives long after they're gone"--

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance

Teenager Emily Vidal tries to navigate through the assortment of eccentric adults at her father's 50th birthday party, a celebration organized by her mother, despite her parents impending divorce. A first novel. 50,000 first printing.

The Adults

The #2 New York Times bestseller A Read With Jenna book club pick 'UTTERLY CHARMING' PANDORA SYKES 'WICKEDLY FUNNY' JENNY JACKSON 'A PERFECT NOVEL' CATHERINE NEWMAN 'THE BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES It's a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people - but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall Inn who isn't here for the big event. Phoebe has dreamed of coming here for years. She hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband but now she is divorced and depressed, and not sure how to go on. She's not been sure how to do anything, lately, except climb into bed and drink gin and tonics and listen to the sound of the refrigerator making ice. When the bride discovers her elaborate destination wedding could be ruined by this sad stranger, she is furious. She has spent months accounting for every detail and every possible disaster - except for, well, Phoebe . . . Soon, both women find their best-laid plans derailed and an unlikely confidante in one another. Uproariously funny and devastatingly tender, The Wedding People is an irresistible novel about love, friendship, dysfunctional families, and the unexpected paths that lead to happiness.

The Hilarious and Moving Read with Jenna Book Club Pick

Named a Best Book of 2022 by NPR and The Chicago Tribune From Alison Espach, author of the New York Times Editors' Choice novel The Adults, comes a dazzlingly unconventional love story for readers of Ask Again, Yes and Tell the Wolves I’m Home. For much of her life, Sally Holt has been mystified by the things her older sister, Kathy, seems to have been born knowing. Kathy has answers for all of Sally’s questions about life, about love, and about Billy Barnes, a rising senior and local basketball star who mans the concession stand at the town pool. The girls have been fascinated by Billy ever since he jumped off the roof in elementary school, but Billy has never shown much interest in them until the summer before Sally begins eighth grade. By then, their mutual infatuation with Billy is one of the few things the increasingly different sisters have in common. Sally spends much of that summer at the pool, watching in confusion and excitement as her sister falls deeper in love with Billy—until a tragedy leaves Sally’s life forever intertwined with his. Opening in the early nineties and charting almost two decades of shared history and missed connections, Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance is both a breathtaking love story about two broken people who are unexplainably, inconveniently drawn to each other and a wryly astute coming-of-age tale brimming with unexpected moments of joy. “Heartbreaking and funny, often in the same sentence—a deeply felt, finely wrought, and highly satisfying novel. Alison Espach has created a family whose every sorrow, joy, and idiosyncrasy is utterly, vibrantly real.”—New York Times bestselling author Claire Lombardo

In-Depth Market Research Interviews with Dead People

Appunti sulla tua scomparsa improvvisa

The smash-hit international bestseller A Read With Jenna book club pick Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction 'Best read of the year' THE TIMES 'Books as fun as this one are few and far between' GUARDIAN 'Sharp, funny and a joy to read' OBSERVER Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people - but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall Inn who isn't here for the big event. When the bride discovers her elaborate destination wedding could be ruined by a divorced and depressed stranger, she is furious. Lila has spent months accounting for every detail and every possible disaster - except for, well, Phoebe . . . Soon, both women find their best-laid plans derailed and an unlikely confidante in one another. Hilarious and moving, The Wedding People is an irresistible novel about love, friendship, dysfunctional families, and the unexpected paths that lead to happiness. 'My book of the summer. As soon as I'd finished it, I wanted to read it all over again' RED 'Laugh-out-loud funny and surprisingly moving' INDEPENDENT 'So funny and romantic . . . A perfect novel' CATHERINE NEWMAN 'Glorious . . . made me wish I had written it' JOJO MOYES 'Utterly charming . . . I loved it' PANDORA SYKES 'One of the few weddings I've attended that I didn't want to end' SAMUEL BURR

The hilarious and moving million-copy bestseller

"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"--

On a bright summer night in 1990s Connecticut, fourteen-year-old Emily Vidal stands on her parents' lawn, watching the adults arrive. Her mother is hosting a lavish birthday party for her father, even though he is about to leave her for another woman. Adrift between her feuding parents and eccentric neighbours, Emily is closer than she knows to the choices and heartbreaks that will define her in the years ahead. From the author of the million-copy international bestseller The Wedding People, this ruefully funny debut novel explores love, grief, consequences and the messy business of growing up.

From the Million-Copy Bestselling Author of the Wedding People

'Heartbreaking and funny, often in the same sentence' Claire Lombardo Sally Holt has always been mystified by the things her older sister, Kathy, seems to have been born knowing. Kathy has answers for all of Sally's questions about life, about love and about Billy Barnes, the high school basketball star who runs the refreshment stand at the local pool. Billy's unfathomable, otherworldly cool puts him on a different planet - until a tragedy leaves Sally's life forever intertwined with his. Opening in the early nineties and charting almost two decades of shared history and missed connections, Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance is a dazzlingly unconventional love story that brims with unexpected moments of joy. 'An immensely talented writer . . . deeply moving, always excellent' Emily St. John Mandel

Analytische annotatie: Een vrouw, met plannen voor zelfdoding, en een bruid verblijven in hetzelfde hotel in Rhode Island. De bruid laat haar goed georganiseerde bruiloftsweek niet verpesten en probeert de vrouw op andere gedachten te brengen.

A Novel. The wedding people

Book Club in a Box

Eine große Geschichte über die unerklärlichen Wege, auf denen Liebe uns findet und alte Wunden heilt Sally hat ihre große Schwester schon immer bewundert. Kathy scheint alles zu wissen, über die Liebe und das Leben und über ihren Freund Billy, von dem auch Sally heimlich fasziniert ist. Als Kathy durch einen Autounfall viel zu früh aus dem Leben gerissen wird, bricht Sallys Welt zusammen. Sie muss lernen, ohne Kathy zu sein. Und sie muss akzeptieren, dass sie selbst älter wird, weiterlebt und weiterliebt. Ausgerechnet Kathys Exfreund Billy ist derjenige, der Sallys Verlust am besten verstehen kann. Er füllt die Lücke in Sallys Innerem, und doch scheint es ausgeschlossen, dass er mehr für sie sein könnte als ein guter Freund – immerhin ist er Kathys Ex, dem alle die Schuld an ihrem Tod geben. Über Jahre kreuzen sich Sallys und Billys Wege immer wieder, fast, als dürften sie einander nicht verlieren. »Tief bewegend, ausgezeichnet geschrieben und mit feinem Humor« Emily St. John Mandel

Roman | Ein bewegender Roman über den Schmerz, eine Schwester zu verlieren, und eine unmögliche Liebe

Und plötzlich warst du fort

Alison Espach, acclaimed author of The Adults, brings her razor sharp insight and storytelling magic to bear in this entrancing tale.

Alison Espach

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