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A Wedding in December
by Anita Shreve
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Back Bay Books (2006-05-02)
ISBN: 0316154512
EAN: 9780316154512
Dewey Decimal #: 813.54
Binding/Media: Paperback - 352 pages
Edition: First Thus
Release Date: 2006-05-02
SKU: 70916961
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: Sold with pride. No writing, no highlighting. Copy in very good condition with minimal reading wear.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
DESCRIPTION: Writing with the fluent narrative artistry and the acute grasp of human motivation that distinguish all of her bestselling novels, Anita Shreve tells the compelling story of seven former schoolmates who gather at an inn in the Berkshires to celebrate a wedding. Their reunion becomes the occasion of astonishing revelations, recrimination, and forgiveness as the friends collectively recall a long-ago night that forever marked each of their lives.
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Customer Reviews
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Reads like a first draft
Rating  (2)
Date: 2010-09-02
I have never read Shreve before and thought I'd give this a try. I love literary fiction, both contemporary and otherwise, and can appreciate books that are slow-paced and purposeful. That said, this was slow-paced, but by accident. Characters spend all their time thinking and rethinking, yet they still come off one-sided. There is no one to root for. So much drama and attempts at heart wrenching, and yet I didn't care what happened to anyone in this book.
I read a review that said this seemed like Shreve took all her unused story ideas and put them in here, and I couldn't agree more.
There wore some beautiful phrases in this book and some potentially good ideas, but most of it was drivel. It needs serious revising. I gave it two stars because I finished it, which I guess means I found something redeeming in it.
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Dry, dull read
Rating (2)
Date: 2010-04-12
I've enjoyed a few of Shreve's works but this one lacks imagination and emotional intensity. It also contains the most preposterous literary device I've ever seen. The idea of a man, in the age of internet and cell phones, sitting down in a hotel room to hand write a seven page letter to his wife (which conveniently sets up the plot and fills in all the background) is just absurd. I was embarrassed for the author.
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Why must they all go to adultery?
Rating (2)
Date: 2009-10-25
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
The premise of this book is quite good. Former classmates gather at the wedding of high school sweethearts re-united 27 years later to begin their life together.
Sounds good, right?
Well I found the characters to be shallow and underdeveloped. Almost everyone in the book has committed adultery. The book asks the question of it's readers something along the lines of - do you go for what makes you happy or do you stay where things are good but not great?
This is the second book in a row I have read where the main characters cheat on their spouses. Is this really how most married people are feeling? Because I am extremely happily married and cannot even fathom cheating on my husband. Why is it that the characters had to go and marry someone who doesn't make them happy and then complain about it? Maybe I'm in the minority here?
There is a book within a book in this story. One of the main characters, Agnes, who we barely get to know (aside from everyone secretly thinking she is gay but really she's been seeing a married man for 26 years) is writing a book about an incident that occurred during WW1. I found that story to be so much more interesting and wished that could have been the main book.
But then toward the end of that story within a story, THAT main character ends up marrying someone he doesn't love and cheats on her. Great. Right back where I started. Blah.
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A Great "Evening" Read
Rating  (5)
Date: 2009-10-07
This book was thoroughly enjoyable, and the characters nicely drawn. Shreve creates wonderful word pictures, and has provided the elements of love, mystery, and reunion within a beautiful setting. She also leaves the reader to decide what happens next, at the conclusion. It reads quickly and holds your attention from beginning to end, with the added twist of containing a story within the story. I highly recommend it.
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Sooooo disappointed
Rating  (1)
Date: 2009-08-31
I'm an Anita Shreve fan, and this book was so disappointing. The characters were so unbelievable and totally undeveloped. I kept struggling through it in the hopes that it would redeem itself, but no, it was one huge disappointment. Not up to the standards of her other works.
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