My review of ‘The Real Thing’ in The Washington Post
On a single day in 2009, Ellen McCarthy became the wedding reporter for The Washington Post and broke up with her boyfriend of nearly two years. At age 30, she was suddenly a chick-flick cliche, interviewing florists and wedding planners between crying spells and dutifully smiling through conversations with blissful couples.
Fortunately, her book’s resemblance to a Katherine Heigl movie ends there. In “The Real Thing,” McCarthy never falls into a fountain, topples a wedding tent or spars with an infuriating groomsman who is actually perfect for her. Instead, she spends four years quietly standing in the corners of other people’s weddings in a simple black dress, taking notes. The result is a wise and compassionate look at how we love, along with some gentle suggestions for how we could get a little better at it.
You can read the full review here.
