Product Description

At an inn in the Berkshire Mountains, seven former schoolmates gather to celebrate a wedding--a reunion that becomes the occasion of astonishing revelations as the friends collectively recall a long-ago night that indelibly marked each of their lives. Written with the fluent narrative artistry that distinguishes all of Anita Shreve's bestselling novels, A Wedding in December acutely probes the mysteries of the human heart and the endless allure of paths not taken.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #166873 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 416 pages

From Publishers Weekly
ABig Chill–like group reunites for a 40-something wedding in this melancholy story of missed opportunities, lingering regrets and imagined alternatives by Shreve (The Last Time They Met). Bill and Bridget were sweethearts at Maine's Kidd Academy who rediscovered one another at their 25th reunion. Bridget was already divorced; Bill left his family; the two have now gathered their Kidd coterie to witness their hasty wedding—Bridget has breast cancer—at widow Nora's western Massachusetts inn. The death of charismatic schoolmate Stephen at a drunken high school party hovers over the event. Stephen's then-roommate, Harrison, now a married literary publisher, remains particularly tormented by it, especially since he had (and still has) romantic feelings for Nora, who was Stephen's then-girlfriend. Abrasive Wall Street businessman Jerry, now-out-of-the-closet pianist Rob, single Agnes (who teaches at Kidd and has a secret of her own) and various children round things out. Tensions build as the group gets snowed in, and someone gets drunk enough to say what everyone's been thinking. Though Shreve's plot, characters and dialogue are predictable (as are her inevitable 9/11 rehashes), she sure-handedly steers everyone through their inward dramas, and the actions they take (and don't) are Hollywood satisfying. (Oct. 10)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal
Adult/High School–This novel has many of Shreve's hallmarks: simple and elegant prose; characters who are entirely convincing in their portrayals of human fallibility; and a plot buildup with a twist toward the end that packs a wallop. Set in New England several months after 9/11, it is the story of seven former classmates who have not seen one another in 27 years but have come together for the wedding of Bill and Bridget, who dated during high school and then went their separate ways. They have reunited and are getting married in the face of Bridget's advanced breast cancer. Nora, who owns the inn where the wedding will be held, is trying to rebuild her life after the death of her husband. Agnes, Nora's former roommate, has a secret she is desperate to share. Over all of them hangs the specter of Stephen, whose charismatic life and tragic death they seem unable to address head-on. Paralleling the story of these friends is the one in the novel Agnes is writing about the Halifax explosion of 1917, a little-known disaster that resulted in the deaths of almost 2000 citizens. This story-within-a-story not only provides an eye-opening account of a piece of World War I history, but also allows Agnes to address some of her own issues. An understated and graceful exploration of the choices that people make in their day-to-day interactions and their consequences, Wedding is an excellent piece of American literature to add to any library.–Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Library System, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
With too many threads creating an uneven tapestry, Shreve's latest lacks the vitality of her previous novels. Linda Emond's performance is adequate, but with so many subplots to keep straight it's easy for the listener to get lost. Musical segues aid transitions as we are bounced from an inn in the Berkshire Mountains in December of 2001, back to 1974, when a classmate drowned just a week before graduation from the prestigious Kidd Academy, and back even further to WWI, when Halifax was devastated by a blast that left many survivors blind. Too many threads . . . too many story lines to really care. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

Melancholic
The reunion of seven former schoolmates who hadn't seen each other in over two decades, on the occasion of a wedding between two of them, starts off some long ago unresolved issues and recriminations, where the concept of missed opportunities dominates. Most of them face these long forgotten issues with a heavy heart, because the passing of time hasn't alleviated them, as most of them previously thought. So the need to resolve, once and for all, what had been pending for so long culminates in a string of stunning revelations which eventually clarify things.

As usual, A. Shreve's writing is somewhat dry but good, very good. The story and all its "ordinary" characters are captivating and absorbing. By reading this book, one cannot but wonder about the "what-ifs" of life.

AN ATTENTION GRABBING NARRATION


Weddings are supposed to be happy occasions, a time for looking to the future. Such is not the case in Anita Shreve's intricately plotted novel. The nuptial event in her story brings seven old friends together not to look forward but rather to remember the past, reflecting upon the choices they have made in their lives and dwelling upon secrets kept.

Actually, there might have been eight friends gathered had it not been for the drowning death of Stephen Otis during their senior year. It has been some twenty years since that tragic event but it continues to haunt Harrison who was Stephen's roommate at Kidd Academy. Once attracted to Nora, Harrison finds that even after all this time she can still cast a spell on him.

But, who wouldn't be attracted to Nora? She was the class beauty who married an established poet, Carl, a man who left his wife for her. One would think she might have led a charmed life but not so. It turned out that Carl was demanding, self-centered. We hear: ""When a man leaves his wife and children for another woman, there's a burden on that woman. She has to be worth the sacrifice.... No one is worth that kind of sacrifice."

Now a widow Nora has turned her Massachusetts home into an inn where the wedding of Bridget and Bill will take place. The two of them were young lovers but parted ways. Bill recently divorced his wife to be with Bridget who is suffering from cancer.

The group is rounded out with unmarried Agnes who teaches at Kidd Academy, and has long been involved with a married man; a concert pianist, Rob, and his partner; and an unpleasant man accompanied by an almost equally unpleasant wife.

Anita Shreve has crafted an intriguing tale about the choices we make and how they impact our lives for better or worse. Neither heroes nor heroines emerge but rather very human people, warts and all. For this listener, a few of those warts did not elicit understanding or sympathy.

"A Wedding In December" as read by Linda Emonds is pleasant listening. She's an actress who holds attention with her narration and easily conveys joy or pathos not only with words but also voice and intonation.

- Gail Cooke