The best thing about A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve is that I finished it and can now get rid of it. The wedding in question is of two former high school sweethearts, reconnecting after 20+ years. Their closest friends from high school are also invited to the wedding and over the weekend secrets are revealed and relationships are strained.
As I was reading this I kept thinking, "this is like The Big Chill--only bad." There was every possible cliche-- audultery, cancer, accidents and death, not to mention the gratuitous mention of 9/11 (did not enhance the plot at all). I didn't find myself to be especially sympathetic to the characters.
Ms. Shreve has a very simplistic writing style, and her descriptions seemed dated and out of touch (reference to a gay classmate who had to adjust to "gay life" and even clothing and hair descriptions).
Within the novel, there was a sub-story written by Agnes. It was about a massive explosion in Halifax during WWII and I felt that plotline was way more believable and interesting. It's for that alone that this book is getting 2 stars.
I have a few more books by Ms. Shreve on my shelf. I know she is a beloved author so perhaps this book was just an anomoly-- something she wrote quickly to fulfill a contract?
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