American writer and novelist Alison Espach is beloved by readers for writing lovable and relatable books that grip you, and you can’t put down. Espach’s third novel, The Wedding People, was a huge hit when it came out in 2024, winning the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction that same year and becoming a New York Times bestseller, and it spent a whopping 39 weeks on the list.
The Wedding People is still wildly popular with readers and was ranked at number 6 on the list of the “Most Read Books of 2026” according to Goodreads. On the platform, users have “shelved” the book more than 605,000 times, and it holds a 4.06 rating out of 5.
View this post on Instagram
Readers on Goodreads have said of The Wedding People:
- “Words cannot do justice to how brilliant this book is. The author left me speechless, a blubbering machine like those waving cat statues you see in Eastern places, with the exception that I kept repeating, ‘I love it! I love it! I love it!'”
- “this book was perfect—there was truly nothing i would change 🥹 it’s been a minute since i’ve felt this passionately and happy about a book and if you’ve been following me for awhile, you know my 5 stars are rare.”
- “I don’t know how a book with such heavy subject matter also happens to be laugh out loud funny, but I just adored every second of this and didn’t want it to end 😭”
In The Wedding People, literature professor Phoebe Stone heads to the grand Cornwall Inn in Newport, Rhode Island. While Phoebe may look the part of just another lavish guest of the inn, she’s actually there because she is depressed, has hit rock bottom, and wants one last night of opulence before she plans on taking her own life. When Phoebe ends up meeting and bonding with a bride getting married that weekend at the Cornwall, her plans are derailed as she gets fully absorbed into the wedding madness. In a tender but funny and devastating tale, The Wedding People explores chance encounters, grief, and the beauty we can find in the unexpected.
The Wedding People is out now and available wherever books are sold.
🎬SIGN UP for Parade’s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox🎬
Related: Best-Selling Haunting Mystery Novel Ranked a ‘Most Read Book of 2026’ on Goodreads