REVIEW: Abigail and Alexa Save the Wedding by Lian Dolan

JayneB Reviews / Book Reviewscultural differences / female friendship / marriage / older characters / wedding / Womens-Fiction1 Comments

Everyone loves—and hates—a big fancy wedding! From the author of Lost and Found in Paris and The Marriage Sabbatical comes a champagne-sparkling summer read about two very different women planning their children’s wedding in glamorous Montecito, California.

You’re invited…to a delightful modern comedy of manners about two moms, the best-laid plans, and one very memorable wedding.

Penelope and Chase make a lovely couple. She’s a bubbly Southern California girl with killer work ethic. Chase is smart and charming and has political aspirations. They’re planning a spectacular California wedding, wrapped in peonies and thousands of little white lights, soaked in custom cocktails and romantic hashtags. Everyone’s excited about Penny and Chase’s wedding­­­­­­—except their mothers.

The Mother of the Bride, suave Greek-born Alexa Diamandis, doesn’t understand why any woman would get married. Ever! Raised in Athens and now perfectly situated in sun-splashed Montecito, California, she raised Penny as single mother by choice, supported by Lord Simon Fox, her old college friend who just happens to be an English aristocrat, and a wealthy circle of lady friends who call themselves the Merry Widows.

The Mother of the Groom, Abigail Blakeman, is a garden club stalwart firmly planted in coastal Connecticut. She thinks the whole enterprise would be so much easier if the wedding was at their golf club. Especially because the Blakeman’s fortunes have taken a turn for the worse—not that you would ever know it by looking at Abigail. Keeping up appearances is exhausting, but it is everything.

But when a sudden twist of fate calls them into action, these two very different women are forced to take over the wedding planning. Despite their differences, Alexa and Abigail charge in to save the day. How far will two moms go to make their children’s dream wedding a reality?

Dear Ms. Dolan,

Wedding season is headed towards us like a freight train and I’m sure there’s lots of frantic activity going on now to make sure that lots of weddings are 100% perfect – as if that could ever actually happen. The term Industrial Wedding Complex is used in this book and I have to admit, it’s correct. I’ve confessed to spending far too much time on the reddit thread AITAH and a fair amount of the posts there concern weddings and how these can make otherwise sensible people seemingly lose their minds. Thankfully most of the people in this book avoid that.

There’s a lot going on in this story – much more than just planning a wedding. Penny and her single mother (sperm donor dad is never in their lives) are west coasters though Penny now lives in NYC. Chase and his family are from Connecticut with ties back to the Founding Fathers. Chase had to work hard to get Penny to go out with him. The engagement announcement is a surprise to both parents to say the least. Both sets of parents go into this with some preconceived notions about the other side and worries about the advisability of the marriage. Will they be able to pull back, take a look at the bigger picture, and set true love on course?

One thing I enjoyed a lot is the character of a friend of Abigail (MOG) who is sort of a famous Miss Mannersesque wedding advisor. Scattered through the book are “columns” that she writes in which she tries to advise people on their role in the ceremony and more importantly what is NOT their role. Most of what MOBs and MoGs fuss about is NOT their role. This also extends to bridesmaids and groomsmen and especially about wedding attire and toasts.

Alexa chose to be a single mother due somewhat to how she knows her own (at first unwed) mother was treated by family. Alexa grew her career and then decided to have a baby whom she has brought up partly with the help of a circle of widowed friends. It doesn’t hurt that said friends are very wealthy but first and foremost they are delightful women and I enjoyed their presence in the book. Alexa is a bit baffled at why her daughter who has the start of a great career too even wants to marry much less someone who works for the mayor of NYC and is from a stuffy New England family. Her first trip to meet them is a little stilted. Toes are stepped on a bit from both sides.

Abigail and her husband George have been married for thirty years and their lives and lifestyles aren’t what Abigail expected from life. George wasn’t exactly a successful investor at his firm and now Abigail works a pittance job and tries to keep up appearances as they are house rich but cash poor. She’s a bit stunned at her future DIL’s glamorous mother but also a little opinionated about single motherhood and the mystery of who Penny’s father is. Abigail can be a bit of a snob for a while.

To their credit, the mothers set to work to help Penny and Chase arrange their low-key, no gimmicks nuptials (both but mainly Penny have endured their own 20something friends going through the whole “my wedding has to stand out and be perfect” and both want none of that). Then just when it seems they’ve got things worked out and locations found, Something Happens and the two mothers are faced with What Do We Do Now?

This is where the rubber meets the road in the main relationships of the book – the one between the mothers and Alexa’s circle of friends – are worked out and forged. Learning about each other helps each mother learn the wonderful things about their child’s potential spouse and realize that this wedding and marriage needs to be given another chance.

Okay it might come across that the mothers and friends are meddling a little but everyone has a good reason. Alexa feels that her daughter has a chance for a wonderful life partner and regardless of her own choice, she wants Penny to know for sure and never think later that Chase is the one who got away. Abigail and her husband might have had their issues (which I was glad to see where eventually brought out, discussed and worked on) but Abigail knows that a good partner to help you through life is a gift and not one she wants to see her son lose. It takes a village of friends, including a fun mayor with connections, to see things through.

The last bit of the book is nice but I felt parts could have been eliminated or trimmed. Still I enjoyed this older woman focused story as we watched Alexa and Abigail change their minds and opinions and grow as people. And the wedding and reception sound like a blast. B

~Jayne

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