Book Review: A Wedding In Great Neck

Author: Yona Zeldis McDonough
Publication Date: October 2, 2012
Publisher: NAL Trade

The Silverstein family is coming together in Great Neck, Long Island, for the nuptials of the youngest daughter. Always considered the favorite—and the object of much envy and resentment—Angelica has planned a fairy tale wedding to her fiancé, a former fighter pilot. But there are storm clouds on the horizon.

Gretchen, Angelica’s sister, is dealing with a failed marriage and her moody teenage daughter Justine. One brother is a callous businessman while the other is struggling with his search for love and a career. Her mother is in a battle of wills with the wedding planner, while her father, a recovering alcoholic, struggles to confront his ex-wife’s lavish new life in the Long Island manor of her dreams. And her grandmother Lenore has decided it’s high time to take charge and set her grandchildren on their proper paths.

Then an impulsive act by Justine puts the entire wedding at risk and brings the simmering family tensions to the boiling point. Before vows are exchanged, this day will change more than one life forever…

What woman hasn’t dreamed about her wedding since the time she was a little girl? I know that I have and I always enjoy reading books and stories about weddings now. I was very intrigued because I almost guessed that this book would be about a dysfunctional family surrounding a highly prestigious wedding. I actually wouldn’t mind having the dress on the front cover for myself!

We are introduced to the highly dysfunctional Silverstein family in Yona’s new book. We meet for the wedding of the baby sister, Angelica, and we are introduced to the entire family, which have come together for the event. Each chapter belongs to a member of the family who speaks about their experiences at the wedding and what is going on in their life at the current moment. Some readers are not fond of this method, but for the purpose of this book, it works great!

 

Yona creates such deep and complex characters. I honestly couldn’t say that I like reading about one more than another. I like the teenage twin sisters, but that is probably because I am a high school teacher and can relate to their ages. Every character has a back story and many of them are quite interesting to read. I love stories where you are able to see the dynamics of the entire family. Yona is able to give each character a different and exciting voice and added spark. I would think that developing this many characters would be exhausting, but she never falters; they are all exquisite!

 

You can really feel the emotions of this family and you really get a sense for the way that family dynamics really work. As each of their stories unravel readers really get a sense for the secrets that families sometimes keep. By the end of the book I felt the need to really go and hug my mom and dad because sometimes we all just take for granted the fact that our family will always stand by us. I felt like this book had such a realistic aspect to it as well because of course family and the wedding of one of its members usually get a little chaotic at times!

 

This book was a quick and fun read that made me wonder about my own wedding and how my own sometimes dysfunctional family will cooperate!

 

***A huge thank you to the publishers at NAL and Yona Zeldis McDonough for my own copy of this book given to me in exchange for my honest review***