The People We Hate at the Wedding

Starred review from April 10, 2017
Ginder (Driver’s Education) takes family dysfunction to its hysterical limit in this joyously ribald, sharply cynical, and impossible-to-put-down examination of love and loyalty. Mining the rich vein of comedy and drama inherent in a lavish, over-the-top wedding, Ginder spins the stories of siblings Alice and Paul, half-sister and bride-to-be Eloise, and their mother, Donna, as they make their way to Eloise’s nuptials in a quaint hamlet in the southwest of England. For Alice and Paul, the trip is fraught with a troubled family and personal history: they’re both in poisonous and doomed relationships and see Eloise as the snotty daughter of a rich, absent dad, and Donna as a coldhearted widow who quickly ditched all remnants of their father after his death. During the boozy prewedding days, the resentment and secrets come tumbling out in outbursts and dangerously, hilariously bad decisions. As a happy ending seems to slip further out of sight, Ginder provides far better: laughter and hope. “Love may disappoint,” Paul tells cold-footed Eloise before she walks down the aisle, “but that doesn’t absolve us from the duty of loving.”

March 15, 2017
An extravagant wedding is threatened by equally lavish family tensions.Paul is a cranky gay guy, and he has a lot to be cranky about, really. He has a job at a clinic where he helps people face their compulsions--for example, forcing a germophobic client who could have -been plucked from a year-old Talbots catalog- to stand in trash cans full of rotting food and maxipads. At home, his smug, controlling boyfriend wants to start inviting strangers into their bed for three-way sex. And his half sister, Eloise, who lives in England, has just sent out ridiculously expensive invitations to her wedding--she must have spent nearly five grand, as he and his other sister, Alice, determine in the phone conversation that opens the book. Paul initially refuses to attend the wedding for the same reasons he refuses to take his mother's phone calls--he can't stand Eloise, thinks their mom favors her, and has been alienated from the family since his father's death. Meanwhile, Alice is not doing great either: living in LA, she dates a married man and relies on Klonopin to get her through the days, unable to recover from a miscarriage that happened years ago. Their mother, Donna, is not too broken up about the death of her second husband (Paul and Alice's dad) and still half in love with her first (Eloise's, who will be at the wedding). She is just hoping to smooth over all these problems and get her children together for the fabulous event. Ginder (Driver's Education, 2013) has a gift for the gleefully outrageous, dishing up one over-the-top scene after another--a meltdown at the compulsion clinic, a drugged-up gay sex imbroglio, a room service debauch, an unexpected and quite unwelcome kayaking trip. A daisy chain of debacles makes time spent with -people we hate- good fun.

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Starred review from May 15, 2017
Paul is having a difficult time. He's working at a clinic helping people overcome their phobias, dealing with his boyfriend's growing dissatisfaction with monogamy, and continuing to avoid any contact with his mother. His sister Alice is not doing any better, stuck in a dead-end job, having an affair with her boss, and relying way too heavily on retail therapy to ease her angst. Just when they think it can't get more complicated, they receive invitations to their half-sister Eloise's wedding. Eloise, who lives in London and has led a life of privilegeincluding private schools, posh vacations, and a trust fundis a woman they want to love but can't help hating. As the estranged family gathers in London, their hopes, dreams, prejudices, and jealousies take on new life. Ginder (Driver's Education, 2013) successfully captures the clash between people who are intimately connected yet deeply at odds. These characters are completely clueless and utterly self-absorbed yet highly likable, their trials and tribulations painful at times and joyful at others but always entertaining. Ginder's latest is a fascinating exploration of family dynamics and the complex way we interact with those who know us best.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)