The Guest List by Lucy Foley
Published by HarperCollinsUK
Published 20th February 2020
Book Description:
On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed.
But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride’s oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast.
And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?
My Thoughts:
My thanks to Harper Collins for the opportunity to read The Guest List via Netgalley ahead of publication. I am yet to read Lucy's previous book The Hunting Party but am definitely looking to do so very soon.
This is a very atmospheric book set on a virtually deserted island off the west of Ireland which can only be reached by boat at certain times due to the dangerous sea crossing necessary to get there. It is the location chosen by online magazine owner Jules for her wedding to TV presenter Will Slater - he's a bit of a Bear Grylls type character on a survival show which is taking the ratings by storm, so the location is a perfect fit.
The action moves between the wedding day and night and events leading up to the big day with the story narrated from various characters' points of view.
Event planners Aoife and Freddy are using this high profile event to launch the wedding side of their business in the hope that followers of the celebrity couple will be queueing up to have their big days here. They just need the guests to be on their best behaviour so they get good reviews. And that's where the problems start.
The opening chapter sets the book up to its finishing point: the wedding night and a scream of terror from outside the marquee where the happy couple is cutting the cake. Then the lights go out. The author certainly knows how to build the tension with the pace of the tale set perfectly in chapters which get shorter as the book moves along - or that may just have been me turning the pages quicker and quicker towards the end!
The groom's side of the main wedding party are mainly all friends of his from their boarding school days and there's definitely a whole raft of history and secrets between them. Drinking games and traditions from their teenage years form part of the pre-wedding celebrations, some of which don't sit comfortably with some of the lads.
Then there's the bridesmaid, Olivia who appears to have more issues than Vogue. The sister of the bride is clearly harbouring resentment with Jules - not all siblings get along though do they? But what's her gripe with the groom? The best man is a loose cannon with plenty of ammunition to ruin the reputation of those around him, and the bride's best friend has more to lose if his secret gets exposed to his wife.
The reader is led through a whole web of secrets and resentments between the wedding party members but the climax of the tale threw me a complete curveball which I hadn't expected. With so many of the characters having a potential motive to ruin the day I was spoilt for choice as to who was involved in the horrors outside the marquee which we read about at the start.
Perfectly plotted, this is a great thriller which demonstrates so well that just because people appear to have perfect lives, it's mainly all just a veneer which can be chipped away to show the faults underneath.
This is a very atmospheric book set on a virtually deserted island off the west of Ireland which can only be reached by boat at certain times due to the dangerous sea crossing necessary to get there. It is the location chosen by online magazine owner Jules for her wedding to TV presenter Will Slater - he's a bit of a Bear Grylls type character on a survival show which is taking the ratings by storm, so the location is a perfect fit.
The action moves between the wedding day and night and events leading up to the big day with the story narrated from various characters' points of view.
Event planners Aoife and Freddy are using this high profile event to launch the wedding side of their business in the hope that followers of the celebrity couple will be queueing up to have their big days here. They just need the guests to be on their best behaviour so they get good reviews. And that's where the problems start.
The opening chapter sets the book up to its finishing point: the wedding night and a scream of terror from outside the marquee where the happy couple is cutting the cake. Then the lights go out. The author certainly knows how to build the tension with the pace of the tale set perfectly in chapters which get shorter as the book moves along - or that may just have been me turning the pages quicker and quicker towards the end!
The groom's side of the main wedding party are mainly all friends of his from their boarding school days and there's definitely a whole raft of history and secrets between them. Drinking games and traditions from their teenage years form part of the pre-wedding celebrations, some of which don't sit comfortably with some of the lads.
Then there's the bridesmaid, Olivia who appears to have more issues than Vogue. The sister of the bride is clearly harbouring resentment with Jules - not all siblings get along though do they? But what's her gripe with the groom? The best man is a loose cannon with plenty of ammunition to ruin the reputation of those around him, and the bride's best friend has more to lose if his secret gets exposed to his wife.
The reader is led through a whole web of secrets and resentments between the wedding party members but the climax of the tale threw me a complete curveball which I hadn't expected. With so many of the characters having a potential motive to ruin the day I was spoilt for choice as to who was involved in the horrors outside the marquee which we read about at the start.
Perfectly plotted, this is a great thriller which demonstrates so well that just because people appear to have perfect lives, it's mainly all just a veneer which can be chipped away to show the faults underneath.
About the Author:
Lucy Foley studied English Literature at Durham and UCL universities. She then worked for several years as a fiction editor in the publishing industry – during which time she also wrote her debut, The Book of Lost and Found. Lucy now writes full-time, and is busy travelling (for research, naturally!) and working on her next novel.
Visit her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/LucyFoleyAuthor and follow her on Twitter @lucyfoleytweets
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