The Wedding Girl

Although the entire pretext of this story, Milly's impulsive marriage, is rather silly, somehow the whole story ends up working beautifully. Whether writing in her pen or real name, Wickham has an amazing ability to create characters who you care about despite the fact that they are often foolish, immature, dizzy, flighty et al. Milly is pretty much all of those, but she ends up being likeable because of the writing. The Isobel and Harry sub-plot was far more preposterous, and could have been omitted without any harm to the storyline. But all in all, I really loved this story!

I've read most of Wickham's other novels and so was prepared for a rather un-conclusive and not exactly happy ending and so was very pleasantly surprised at the ending of this novel. She proves that she can pull of a novel that doesn't shy away from the hard parts of life, deals with really complex and hard to solve problems, and still leaves nearly everything tied up at the end. I particularly enjoyed the dealings between Richard and his wife and him dealing with his past and what he wants for in the future. A must read for Wickham fans who might enjoy a little more settled ending then she usually leaves us with.

A cute book with a light hearted plot line. It is a no brainer and enjoyable to read.. :)

What if your wedding was just a few days away, and a secret from your past suddenly reappears? Just a little sin of omission, something you forgot to tell anyone? This is what happens to Milly, when her wedding photographer is the same person who took casual photos of her as a bride ten years ago, a wedding that she never told anyone about. This was a marriage of convenience with a virtual stranger, and when Milly lost contact with the groom, she decided she could push the entire event far enough out of her mind to make it never exist. Milly's secret does get told, and she ends up in a maelstrom of hurt feelings and confusion, staring with her fiancée, Simon. The only son of a self-made wealthy man, Simon struggles with inadequacy and was determined to do one thing better than his father--have the perfect wedding. Milly's mother has been frantically planning the wedding, with much vicarious pleasure in Milly's wealthy future. Meanwhile, Milly's Dad is struggling with a mid-life crisis and her sister Isobel is facing a life changing decision of her own. In parallel to Milly's personal challenges, she sets off to find her first husband and secure a divorce. This sub-plot adds an entirely different element to The Wedding Girl (no spoiler here!), and adds valuable elements to the story and to development of the characters. The Wedding Girl is a delightful story with a good mix of happy and sad that will cause the reader to think and enjoy. I always enjoy books by Madeline Wickham aka Sophie Kinsella, and The Wedding Girl reminds me why I look forward to each one being released in the USA.

If you don't know, Madeleine Wickham is the real name for Sophie Kinsella (pen name). Yeap, the one who wrote the highly successful Shopaholic series. Under her real name of Madeleine Wickham, she wrote several books which have more substance than the frothy ones under Sophie Kinsella. That's why she used a pen name to keep her styles of writing apart. The Wedding Girl is one such book with much meaty substance. She must have germinated her ideas for "Can you Keep A Secret?" which she wrote later under Sophie Kinsella from this earlier book, The Wedding Girl. Are secrets better left unearthed or are they better off exposed to those that concern you? How would it affect relationships that have formed preconceived set values and change the dynamics? Will it be the same? That is the recurring fear harboured by Milly Havill who got married for a frivolous reason 10 years ago and now has to un-do that marriage in order to marry the person she truly loves. Familiarity breeds contempt within the family. This is the ongoing theme in the book, you think you know someone too well and you begin to perform selective memory. You only bring up characteristics that you dislike about them which becomes all too consuming for you and bury their good points fathoms deep. That is until someone from outside your immediate family brings to you a new perspective on their characters. The author deftly handles the multitude of secrets harboured by several characters. The secrets harboured here are definitely more grounded in reality than those in "Can You Keep A Secret?". Read it or you will miss out on a much earlier Sophie Kinsella very sophisticated story telling skills!!!