Wedding In December: A Novel [Bargain Price] [Hardcover]

When Anita Shreve is good, she's very, very good, and when she's not good, she is boring. A few of my friends have really enjoyed this novel, and I value their opinions, so perhaps I am in the minority when I say I found "A Wedding in December" to be, at best, a ho-hum read filled with tired metaphors. Set in a post 9/11 America with the Berkshire mountains of western Massachusetts as a backdrop, seven former classmates, all graduates of Maine's preppy Kidd Academy, reunite for a weekend. The occasion is an intimate wedding hosted by Nora, one of the original group members, who owns a quaint bed and breakfast. Bill and Bridget, the honored couple, were sweethearts thirty years before but married other people. Now they hope for a second shot at happiness, (against some serious odds), and want to share this special time with those who knew them when they were in the throes of first love. The group had once been extremely close but, with one or two exceptions, most have not seen each other since high school graduation. There is much unfinished business to be raked-up, adding juice to the plot, including sharp memories of a foreseen tragedy and, consequently, lots of guilt shared by all.

Predictably, there is an abundance of reminiscing, fantasizing and reexamining of lives and goals as the characters discuss past and present and make some interesting discoveries. An emphasis is placed on tragedy - both 9/11 and a devastating disaster which occurred in Halifax Nova Scotia during WWI are brought into play frequently, as is a disaster of another kind, a catastrophic illness. Adultery also plays a big enough role that it might as well have been a character. Ms. Shreve shines no new light on an old theme, however. I did keep feeling that she wanted to make a more profound statement about marital infidelity than the forced denouement she finally delivers. Threads are left hanging and tension is not resolved.

As always the author's characters are likeable but flawed and are limited in their development by multiple storylines. Again, nothing is new other than the mountain setting and post 9/11 world. Oddly, there is a fascinating story within a story developed here, and I found myself much more interested in this narrative than the principal one. I wish we could have gone off on a permanent tangent.

Don't get me wrong, "A Wedding in December" is not a bad novel - it fulfills all the requisites for a mildly entertaining read. However, there are so many excellent books around, in all genres, that I question the need to waste one's valuable time on the mediocre. I am a fan of the author, so I can also say that even hard core Shreve fans may be disappointed.
JANA

When graduates of an elite prep school gather for the first time since graduation twenty-seven years previously, old secrets are revealed and passions long buried ignite. Facing the mid-life crises that plague so many, members of the class question their choices in relationships and ponder the proverbial road not taken.

The occasion that brings this once tightly knit group together is the wedding of two of its members. Bridget and Bill were high school sweethearts, but he found another love in college and jilted her. A meeting at their 25th high school reunion led to rekindled romance and he has now left his wife and daughter to be with Bridget and her 15-year old son. The wedding is urgent since Bridget has terminal breast cancer. Determined to make Bridget's last years perfect, Bill arranges a wedding with the help of fellow classmate Nora.

Nora owns a New England inn that was once the home she shared with her famous husband, a renowned poet. Now a widow, Nora is the perfect hostess arranging the details of the wedding and visiting with her former classmates, especially Harrison.

Harrison has entered the publishing world in Toronto, but marriage and two boys he adores have not extinguished the flame that still burns in his heart for Nora. Immediately attracted to her when they were both seventeen, he didn't act quickly enough and she soon became the girlfriend of his best friend Stephen.

It is the absence of Stephen and the mystery surrounding his tragic death just weeks before graduation that hovers over this group and explains why friends once so close have been estranged for more than two decades.

Adding to the mix are: Agnes, the presumed spinster who in reality has been involved in an adulterous and demeaning affair with someone they all know; Jerry, a Wall Street banker with a seemingly cold wife and a personal misfortune; and Rob, a fellow member of the baseball team who has become a world-renowned pianist.

Shreve hits all the right notes in this one as she delves into the insecurities, misgivings, and vulnerabilities of outwardly successful people. An example of her insights I found particularly penetrating was the following from page 151:

"A twenty-two year marriage is a long story, " Nora said. "It's ...it's a continuum with moments of drama, periods of stupefying boredom. Passages of tremendous hope. Passages of resignation. Once can never tell the story of a marriage. There's no narrative that encompasses it. Even a daily diary wouldn't tell you what you wanted to know. Who thought what when. Who had what dreams. At the very least, a marriage is two intersecting stories, one of which we will never know."

To further illuminate her story of the secret wants and fears within the middle-aged heart, Shreve writes a story-with-the-story that parallels the profound tragedy of the main story.

I whole-heartedly recommend this for fans of contemporary fiction.

With her new book, "A Wedding in December," Anita Shreve once again demonstrates her skill at exploring the depths of love, heartache, guilt, and despair. This time, Shreve focuses on the wedding of Bridget and Bill, a pair of high school sweethearts who rediscover one another after spending many years apart. Bridget is battling breast cancer, and this wedding is a testament to the couple's fervent hope that Bridget will somehow be able to beat the odds. Coming together to celebrate this occasion are some of the bride and groom's former classmates from their years at Kidd Academy in Maine back in the seventies.

The hostess is Nora, a widow who has converted her home in the Berkshires into a fashionable and successful inn. The wedding guests include Harrison, who has always carried a torch for Nora, Jerry, a Wall Street banker and a bit of a blowhard, Agnes, a single woman with a secret, and Rob, a world-renowned concert pianist. The one person who is missing is Stephen, a talented athlete and popular student who died tragically twenty-seven years ago.

"A Wedding in December" gives us a glimpse into the thoughts and feelings of Harrison, Agnes, and Bridget. We learn about Harrison's discontent with his marriage and his longing for Nora that has not abated with the passing years. Agnes thinks with some regret about the clandestine affair that she has been conducting with a married man for the last twenty-six years. Bridget prays that she will be well enough to enjoy life with her new husband and her teenaged son, Matt.

Adding to the narrative's poignancy is the transcript of a story that Agnes has been writing about the survivors of a horrendous and tragic explosion that occurred in Halifax Harbor back in 1917. Agnes's protagonist is a twenty-seven year old eye surgeon named Innes Finch who is in Halifax to complete his medical training. Shortly after he arrives, Innes falls in love with his mentor's daughter, Hazel, who is engaged to another man. When Halifax Harbor suddenly explodes, the death and devastation that ensue alter the course of Finch and Hazel's lives forever. Creating this story is cathartic for Agnes, since she knows in her heart that she cannot control the direction that her own love affair will take.

Shreve's characters ponder a question that is more relevant than ever in this age of terror and uncertainly: Should we selfishly seek to make ourselves happy, even if we hurt others in the process? Or should we try to be content with a "good enough" life that may not be as exciting and fulfilling as we might wish? I have always admired Shreve's thoughtfulness, her vivid word pictures that capture the beauty of nature at its most splendid, and her compassion for the human condition. "A Wedding in December" is a heartfelt and moving novel about the ties that bind us and keep us apart.

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