Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Jump to content
Sign up to our newsletters
Independent
More
Voices
Best
TV

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in

The Independent's journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commission. Why trust us?

IndyBest is launching a Book Club – and the first pick is a quirky anti-rom com

Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is this month’s Book Club read

Daisy Lester Senior shopping writer
The TikTok-viral novel is a New York Times bestseller
The TikTok-viral novel is a New York Times bestseller (Daisy Lester )

Book clubs are blooming both online and in real life. Dua Lipa’s Service 95, Reese Witherspoon’s Reece’s book club and the Queen’s Reading Room provide monthly inspiration, Eventbite has reported a 350 per cent surge in book events since 2020, ‘reading retreats’ are the latest trend in travel and more than 60 per cent of book shops in the UK now host book club events.

Workplace book clubs have long been a tradition – and now, The Independent’s review section IndyBest is launching its own book club. But we’re expanding it beyond the four walls of our office so readers can get involved too.

From zietgesty reads and TikTok-viral tomes, to new literary releases, romance or historical titles, the IndyBest Book Club picks will select the best of fiction, catering for various interests and hopefully keep you gripped until the very last page. Each book will be announced on Instagram (@theindybest) and online at the start of every month. Once we’ve dived into the month’s pick, we’ll share our thoughts with you and encourage you to share your opinions, too.

Drum roll... the first Book Club pick is The Wedding People by Alison Espach. A New York Times bestseller, the buzzy novel follows a woman who accidentally gatecrashes a Rhode Island wedding. A huge hit across the pond upon its release in 2024, The Wedding People has enjoyed recent fame on TikTok and GoodReads in the UK, where’s it’s garnered an average of 4.1 stars.

If you’re looking for a book to enjoy in February, here’s where to read or listen to The Wedding People – and when you can get the IndyBest Book Club’s verdict.

Read more: My 22 all-time favourite audiobooks

the wedding people

'The Wedding People' by Alison Espach, published by Orion

Phoebe Stone is a professor who has found out her husband’s been having an affair. Recently divorced and depressed, she decides to book into the coastal luxury hotel that she had previously dreamt of going to with her husband. However, in a romcom-style comedy of errors, she realises upon arrival that the entire hotel has been booked out for a wedding party. And, as Phoebe is in her finest dress, she’s mistaken for one of the guests.

While the bride fears this stranger could ruin her carefully planned big day, Phoebe worries that her solo trip and the secret reason behind it are entirely spoiled. But among the chaos, an unlikely friendship blooms between the two troubled women. Laugh-out-loud funny and surprisingly moving, you’ll have the most fun tearing through Espach’s charming novel.

The IndyBest team will be giving their verdict on 10 March, so read along with us.

Read the ebook now:

Listen to the audiobook now:

Best new book releases to read in 2026, from Jennette McCurdy to David Szalay

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in