Life is never what you expect.
Haven't we all gone into situations we expected to be phenomenal, only to work out it was a downright nightmare? And how often do we not dive into a situation we dread, to come out of it on the other side realizing we just had some of the best times of our lives? The Wedding People by Alison Espach is an exemplary reminder of this notion. If you haven't read it yet, then go and get yourself a copy. Then sit out on the balcony, or the beach, or just in front of the fireplace with your fav drink... you'll enjoy this one.
Through the sassy dialogue, the colorful (yet subtle) characters and the pacy plot shines the contradicting truth: one of the things that people have in common, that 'unite' us, is in fact loneliness. Every one of us has felt alone at some point in time. It fills you with such dark emptiness that it consumes you whole. It makes you lose track of time, of place - of people - until you can't remember not feeling this way, or what that would have felt like.
With a large number of A-listed writers currently dwelling in the heavier drama, writing beautiful but more solemn-tasting prose (the likes of Kristin Hannah, for example), I find Alison Espach's style incredibly uplifting. She treads across various emotional landmines with a delicate sense of balance between the witty and the sensitive, sculpting characters that make you feel as though you met them at some point in your life. You recognize their virtues, their flaws and their struggles.
Another aspect about Espach's writing that I thoroughly appreciate is her outstanding observation without ever making you feel like she is showing off. When a new character is introduced, I don't need an entire paragraph dedicated to the kind of polo shirt he wears, how his hair is coiffed, the way his shoes shine in the moonlight, the striped belt he is wearing, the antique watch he has on his wrist... etc, etc, etc. Espach manages to give you just enough detail to instantly paint the picture. There is a kind of respect in writers not sharing too much about the appearance of their character: it shows that they do not underestimate your ability as reader to fill in the blanks. It means that they expect you to be smart. And I don't know about you, but I love that feeling. ;-)
Alison Espach's style is the first I recognize this year (well, in 2024) as being more similar to my own (or at least: how I envision my writing to come across ;-)). It never feels like you have to 'unravel' a complicated knot of adjectives, or 'give the book time' (or yourself, for getting into it). The story takes you on a clear journey from the get-go and reminds you of why you fell in love with books in the first place.
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