Green Dresses, Gold Heels, and Bridezillas
This was such an interesting read! I actually picked it for the workplace book club I run for people with disabilities. A few members called me beforehand worried it was “too sad,” so I was determined to keep our discussion fun, focusing on the dark humor beneath the grief. I started it on Monday and finished it Thursday night, right before our meeting on the last Friday of the month. While one reader couldn’t get past the heavy themes, many others loved it and completely understood why I chose it.
For me, once you look past the initial sadness, this book is incredibly funny.
Phoebe isn’t an ordinary, formulaic character. She is brilliant, sarcastic, and exhausted—trapped in her unhappiness like a hamster on a treadmill, silencing her own opinions while putting everyone else first. After a divorce, failed IVF treatments, and a sudden tragedy, she finally says “enough is enough.” She flees her life as a literature professor wearing nothing but a green special-occasion dress and gold heels, ending up at a luxurious $800-a-night hotel in Newport, Rhode Island, with a secret plan to end her life.
Instead, she gets swept up in the chaos of Lila, a 27-year-old bridezilla micromanaging her wedding to honor her late father’s memory. Lila is dealing with her own nightmare family—an eccentric, drinking mother, a cynical sister-in-law fresh off a scandal, and a rebellious teenage stepdaughter. The last thing her “perfect day” needs is a suicidal wedding crasher. How dare she! Yet, Lila keeps knocking on Phoebe’s door because this stranger is the only person who will tell her the unvarnished truth.
By getting tangled in the wedding drama, Phoebe accidentally pulls herself out of the dark. She becomes an unofficial confessional priest for the guests, the bride’s mother, and even the groom. As both women confront their crossroads, the story asks beautifully raw questions about leaving your old self behind and being brave enough to start over.
This magnificent satire balances drama and humor perfectly, just like life itself. With its heartfelt look at mental health and the wonderful, unexpected friendship between two polar opposites. I would be interested in reading more by this author and want to know more about how the story could continue.
