The Wedding Girl

THIS. THIS. This is Sophie Kinsella!!! (yes, I met her and it was amazing and I am still going to refer to her by her pseudonym.) Hilarious, absolutely baffling, dramatic, with idiotic characters you can't help but adore, some super sweet romances, some great familial relationships, UGH YES. My only problem was keeping track of all the male characters.

My flatmate's cat was spooning with me when I realized that sister and father-in-law-to-be were involved and I yelled out "NOOO" and the cat went running. She was more upset than me.

At the giddy age of 18, Milly got married to Allan: older, foreign, handsome, charming... and gay. He needed a way to stay in the country, and she truly didn't mind doing a favor for a friend. Now, ten years later, Milly is on the brink of marriage again, this time for real. In a few days, she'll be married to Simon, the man of her dreams. There's just one tiny detail that needs to be sorted out: technically, she may still be married to Allan...

This book is both hysterically funny and surprisingly touching. There are plenty of plot twists and reversals, and the characters are strong and nuanced -- even ones that initially seem like stock characters (such as the wedding-obsessed mother of the bride). I chose to listen to the audiobook show more because it is narrated by the inimitable Katherine Kellgren, who did a stunning job as always. If you enjoy this sort of modern romance, I would recommend this, especially in audio. show less

Book on CD narrated by Katherine Kellgren

Milly is engaged to Simon, the son of the immensely wealthy Harry Pinnacle. Her mother couldn’t be more excited, and the “wedding of the century” is being planned. But Milly has a huge secret that is likely to derail all plans.

I found Milly hugely irritating. What a complete idiot! She’s prone to go off on an emotional tirade, and burst into tears and just want to put her head in the sand – over and over and over again. Simon is a stubborn fool, just as prone to emotional reactions and to speaking without thinking – or listening.

Still, despite two lead characters I would have absolutely no use for in real life, I found this an entertaining, somewhat comedic, romp. Milly’s not the show more only one with a secret, and if there’s any lesson to be learned it’s that secrets always get revealed.

Katherine Kellgren does a fine job of performing the audio book. She kept the pace up and I loved how she interpreted Milly’s mother! show less

Milly makes a foolish decision, but it is the catalyst for all the interesting things that happen. Secrets come out, but for the most part those secrets also contain the seeds of forgiveness and authenticity. The character of Simon was the one whose change seemed the most surprising - I'm not sure if it was convincing or not.

For all the fluff of this book, it really had a lot to say about homosexuality, being single and pregnant. But the main theme about being true to yourself and honest about your feelings comes across very well. Milly was almost too flaky, Simon was not developed well enough to truly understand him. The mother and godmother were way over the top.

So far this is my favorite of Sophie Kinsella writing as Madeleine Wickham. The book according to her more serious style when she writes with her real name has a few brush-strokes of sadness here and there, but overall the story is gripping, it has interesting turns and some unexpected coupes de theater.
I only wish the story of the villain, I am not disclosing the identity, was explored a little more in depth.

I quite liked this book. It definitely wasn't nearly as good as any of her Kinsella books but it was still good- very different to what I expected it to be like. It started off fairly slow and the writing was really dull and stiff but once I got into it, I really started to enjoy it.

Milly is a likable enough character and I could definitely empathize with her. Simon was a lot harder to like because of how he was portrayed at the beginning but by the end, I thought he was actually a pretty decent person. The story itself was fun and silly while also managing to be meaningful and deal with some darker issues, such as Rupert and Allan's story. I wasn't a huge fan of the inconsistent change of point of view but it worked well at getting show more everybody's story in.

There were a few twists that I really didn't see coming although the actual ending was pretty predictable given the genre. Overall, I liked it and would be interested in reading some more of her Wickham books. show less