A Wedding in December

August 8, 2005
ABig Chill
–like group reunites for a 40-something wedding in this melancholy story of missed opportunities, lingering regrets and imagined alternatives by Shreve (The Last Time They Met
). Bill and Bridget were sweethearts at Maine's Kidd Academy who rediscovered one another at their 25th reunion. Bridget was already divorced; Bill left his family; the two have now gathered their Kidd coterie to witness their hasty wedding—Bridget has breast cancer—at widow Nora's western Massachusetts inn. The death of charismatic schoolmate Stephen at a drunken high school party hovers over the event. Stephen's then-roommate, Harrison, now a married literary publisher, remains particularly tormented by it, especially since he had (and still has) romantic feelings for Nora, who was Stephen's then-girlfriend. Abrasive Wall Street businessman Jerry, now-out-of-the-closet pianist Rob, single Agnes (who teaches at Kidd and has a secret of her own) and various children round things out. Tensions build as the group gets snowed in, and someone gets drunk enough to say what everyone's been thinking. Though Shreve's plot, characters and dialogue are predictable (as are her inevitable 9/11 rehashes), she sure-handedly steers everyone through their inward dramas, and the actions they take (and don't) are Hollywood satisfying.

November 1, 2005
Adult/High School -This novel has many of Shreve's hallmarks: simple and elegant prose; characters who are entirely convincing in their portrayals of human fallibility; and a plot buildup with a twist toward the end that packs a wallop. Set in New England several months after 9/11, it is the story of seven former classmates who have not seen one another in 27 years but have come together for the wedding of Bill and Bridget, who dated during high school and then went their separate ways. They have reunited and are getting married in the face of Bridget's advanced breast cancer. Nora, who owns the inn where the wedding will be held, is trying to rebuild her life after the death of her husband. Agnes, Nora's former roommate, has a secret she is desperate to share. Over all of them hangs the specter of Stephen, whose charismatic life and tragic death they seem unable to address head-on. Paralleling the story of these friends is the one in the novel Agnes is writing about the Halifax explosion of 1917, a little-known disaster that resulted in the deaths of almost 2000 citizens. This story-within-a-story not only provides an eye-opening account of a piece of World War I history, but also allows Agnes to address some of her own issues. An understated and graceful exploration of the choices that people make in their day-to-day interactions and their consequences, "Wedding" is an excellent piece of American literature to add to any library." -Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Library System, VA"

Copyright 2005 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 1, 2005
A group of former schoolmates from Maine's Kidd Academy gather in the Berkshires for a wedding just three months after 9/11. In Shreve's ("Light on Snow") latest, Nora, widow of a much older poet, has turned her home into an inn and is hosting the nuptials of fellow classmates Bill and Bridget. The pair had been an item at Kidd and have reunited to make it legal. The characters, all in their mid-forties, have more baggage than required for a weekend stay. Agnes, now a history teacher at Kidd, is writing a short story based on the Halifax shipping disaster of 1917 and bemoaning her longtime affair with a married man. Harrison, down from Toronto and married with two sons, has always loved Nora; at Kidd, Nora had been the girlfriend of Harrison's roommate, Stephen. The story behind Stephen's death in their senior year underlies a good deal of the tension among the guests. The many what-ifs and might-have-beens come to a head during this "happy occasion" that is also touched by heartache. Shreve's poignant story of lost love and hidden truths is a compelling read. Highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 6/15/05.] -Bette-Lee Fox, "Library Journal"

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2005
Recrimination and regret underlie an emotional reunion of seven former classmates from the Kidd Academy, an elite prep school, who gather at an inn in the Berkshire Mountains for a wedding. Nora, the widow of an abusive, renowned poet and the owner of the inn, has agreed to host the wedding of Bridget, ill with cancer, and Bill, who has divorced his wife to marry his high-school sweetheart. Among the wedding guests are Harrison, still in love with Nora and still reeling from the tragic death of his roommate, a gifted but troubled athlete, at the academy some 27 years earlier, and Agnes, a long-single history teacher with a tumultuous love life. Uncertainties bred in the wake of 9/11 also play a role here, although they are summoned indirectly through a story that Agnes is writing about a ship collision in Halifax Harbor in 1917 that left 2,000 dead and hundreds blinded. Operating with a heightened sense of their mortality, the former classmates regard each other's life decisions with a mixture of envy, wariness, and spite. The skillful, prolific Shreve, who seems to turn out one best-seller per year, seamlessly moves her story between the horrific events of Halifax Harbor and the nearly as horrific reunion, underscoring the fleeting nature of happiness and the painful trade-offs it often requires.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)