A Wedding in December
by Anita Shreve
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Read in January, 2008
This novel brings seven former schoolmates together after more than 20 years to attend a wedding at an inn in the Berkshire Mountains. The tight bond held by this group of friends was shattered years earlier when one of their own died unexpectedly. The blossoming relationships and potential of each of these central characters jackknifed with the death of this friend, and the wedding reunion gives the characters an opportunity to seek out a resolution for the paths they did not follow.
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Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
married women
Often I can't look past a books writing to give credit to a decent story. This time, I can't get past the worldview of the book to clearly see the writing.
(Spoiler Alerts)
I think there are two (linked) messages in this book: the first is that you never know when tragedy will strike so live your life now. This theme is subtley given in the numerous references to 9/11 and the World Trade Centre (even though it was published in 2005, it must have been written shortly after 9/11/2001 because...more
(Spoiler Alerts)
I think there are two (linked) messages in this book: the first is that you never know when tragedy will strike so live your life now. This theme is subtley given in the numerous references to 9/11 and the World Trade Centre (even though it was published in 2005, it must have been written shortly after 9/11/2001 because...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
people 40+, who may be able to relate better to the themes.
This reunion story reflects on the lives of several people who graduated a prep-school together and are attending the second marriage of two fellow graduates 20+ years later. One couldn't help but feel that some of the characters were not very evolved, however disillusioned they might be. But, maybe that is the point -- that we never really evolve -- how we remain unfulfilled despite our best intentions, because we expect fulfillment from things that cannot provide it. In most cases, the charact...more
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Read in November, 2007
I've read quite a few of Shreve's books & they're a guilty pleasure - she's not the greatest writer in the world, but she tells an interesting story, usually with some historical background, & they're often a quick read. I liked this one less than some of her others, but give it four stars on the strength of the story-within-story - a technique that I always LOVE! The main story is about a group of old high school friends who reunite over 20 years later, for the wedding of the separated-...more
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Read in July, 2007
I'm glad I read Barometer Rising by Hugh Maclennan before I read A Wedding in December because the comparison between the Halifax explosion and the destruction of the World Trade Center was a central theme of the book. Like Barometer Rising, Shreve divides her chapters by the days of the week. As her book takes place over the course of a weekend, she only has three main sections: Friday, Saturday and Sunday, to Maclennan's seven days.
It is through Agnes's writing though that the main connect...more
It is through Agnes's writing though that the main connect...more
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Read in January, 2007
But, she thought, her story wasn’t over yet. Possibilities remained. Sometimes Agnes felt frozen in the expectation of a remarkable destiny that might still materialize” (p 36).
“She had this reaction at church when a familiar hymn was sung, at the symphony when the violins were exquisite, even at baseball games when the tenor began the nation anthem. The music was a kind of trigger that summoned emotions normally kept in check. Reverence. Gratitude. A sense of something greater t...more
“She had this reaction at church when a familiar hymn was sung, at the symphony when the violins were exquisite, even at baseball games when the tenor began the nation anthem. The music was a kind of trigger that summoned emotions normally kept in check. Reverence. Gratitude. A sense of something greater t...more
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Read in March, 2008
Borrowed this book from my mother. I think that says it all. Because I didn't really identify with the Big Chill-esque conceit of several fortysomething friends converging for a wedding (in December, of course), it took me a while to get into the story. The "deep dark secret" that these friends share is kind of eh -- a big contrast to the twisty-turny reveals in Shreve's The Weight of Water and Light on Snow, both of which I liked a lot more. By the time this book's secret is revealed,...more
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Read in July, 2008
Good writing, pleasurable reading, but . . . I don't like the device of a story in a story. The main story features a number of ex-private-high-school friends who are getting back together for the wedding of Bill and Bridget who were a couple in high school but who married different people. Bill has left his wife to marry Bridget who has breast cancer. The party is hosted by Nora who owns and operates an inn and is attended by four other old friends plus various partners. Lurking in the bac...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
chicks
I've read two Shreve novels now and I think what I've learned from her is this: Before agreeing to marry a man, one should ask him if he's actually deeply in love with someone else. If he's honest he may reveal that he's just marrying you because he thinks it'll never work out with another woman. As Shreve illustrates so well in her novels, it sucks to find out ten or twenty years into a marriage that you were actually the runner-up.
I'm pretty tired of books about domestic funk. Why do I...more
I'm pretty tired of books about domestic funk. Why do I...more
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I would say that this is an average, lazy Sunday read... Anita Shreve expertly avoids the stereotypical assignment of personality traits in this story of reunited high school friends. She waits until the end to unfold the actual story about their friend Stephen's death and leaves the reader a bit wanting, wondering what if...just like each of the characters have done for the past 27 years. While some may find this disappointing, I actually found it satisfying that she didn't try to tie everyth...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
no one
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Read in July, 2008
Honestly, I have to say I'm just plain tired of cheaters. I haven't read a single book of hers where couples stayed true to each other. The book was just OK. I got tired of hearing about all the cancer and teacher/student affair details and wanted to hear more about the awkwardness of the past and current relationships of these reunited classmates. It was also hard for me to see why the bride and groom invited only high school friends instead of their current friends, and why all these people ...more
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
fans of The Big Chill
I told my mom I needed an engrossing book, and she loaned me this one. It was just what I was looking for - I was completely absorbed into the lives and relationships of old high school friends reunited after 17 years at a wedding that is held a few months after 9/11.
Love is a central theme, as the two getting married are high school lovers who married other people, then fell back in love at a reunion. She has advanced breast cancer, so there are all sorts of reflections on love and loss and...more
Love is a central theme, as the two getting married are high school lovers who married other people, then fell back in love at a reunion. She has advanced breast cancer, so there are all sorts of reflections on love and loss and...more
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Read in January, 2008
I read this one along with a couple friends and while it was fun to discuss and offer up our own opinions and dissect everything, this won't be going on my keeper shelf. It was difficult to connect with even one character. Every one seemed unhappy or dissatisfied or both. The general theme seemed to be one of longing, of not having what you want, or sacrificing immensely for what you wanted, but always paying the price for it. Not a happy group of people. There was also a story-within-the-story...more
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Obviously, I went through an Anita Shreve phase. This was one of those books that was hard to get into and hard to finish. I actually quit reading it for a while, read a few other books, and came back to it when I had nothing else to read. I guess it was just boring...nothing really happens to any of the characters, they rarely leave the house where the wedding is taking place, and most of the book is spent reminiscing uninteresting memories from the characters' high school/college days. Skip th...more
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Read in May, 2008
The basic message of this book is that adultery can be justified, which I firmly disagree. At first I thought this book was ok - it has an interesting plot concept: reunion of a group of friends from high school after 27 years. It also had a story within a story (which the transitions were confusing, but I started looking forward to reading more of the second story) and was an easy read. But by the end (and time I realized the main message), I was disappointed that I wasted my time.
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Read in May, 2007
Anita Shreve usually holds my attention well...I love her locations (many on/near the ocean in Maine), her characters, and some of her writing. Unfortunately this book was, for her, subpar. The plotline is dull to the point of boredom, the purported "secret" a big bust, most of it having been telegraphed way in advance, and the ending is completely unsatisfactory--something I would expect from a fifth or seventh grader. This is just a weak entry from an author I generally admire.
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Read in April, 2007
As with all of her books, the storyline has promise, but falls short (for many reasons). I am not a fan of her abrupt/erratic writing style (she seems to jump from topic to topic with her characters). With this book, I didn't like how she had so many characters that seemed under-developed. The book is about seven former classmates, but there are a few that just seem to be thrown into the storyline. The best part of the book was the mini Halifax story within the story.
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Read in June, 2008
An interesting book, and I liked the story within the story element. However, I did not think the "revelations" of the weekend were as dramatic as perhaps the blurb on the back of the book conveyed. There was enough foreshadowing in the book to give the reader a reasonable guess as to what types of things would be revealed, and there were certain occurrences that were almost inevitable within the context of the story. Nonetheless, it was an interesting book, certainly exemplary of S...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in January, 2008
I'm about half way through this book about several high school friends who come together after 30 plus years for a wedding. Each character has their own story to be told, and they all tie in some way to a tragedy they shared in high school. It's pretty slow moving, I think, and I haven't yet figured out what the point of the book is (that's why I haven't rated it very highly- yet). However, I like the characters- they all feel authentic to me, which is something you don't always find. I'll u...more
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