Staff Pick
Wilfred Price's tiptoeing into situations with the opposite sex start out befuddled and amusing. Caught up in the swirling eddies (both figurative and literal) of the complexities of love, commitment, and marriage, Wilfred tries hard to navigate his way through these uncharted waters. Thrust into an unfair dilemma, Wilfred's steady climb out of a mess that is only partially his making leads to his own personal growth, and it is lovely to watch. This novel is funny, slightly haunting, and satisfying at the same time. Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Set in 1926, two years after the end of
The Thoughts and Happenings of Wilfred Price, Purveyor of Superior Funerals, Wendy Jones
The World is a Wedding finds Wilfred Price married to Flora Myfanwy and trying to be the perfect husband. His efforts only intensify when he learns that Flora is expecting. But something doesnt feel right to Flora: she doesnt feel at home. Meanwhile, Grace (to whom Wilfred was very briefly married before he met Flora) has fled Narberth for London, trying to escape what has happened to her and the secret she carries because of it. But secrets are not so easily escapedand Graces will affect Wilfred and Flora, too.
A sophisticated comedy of manners, The World is a Wedding captures life in a small town in Wales and explores the complexities of marriage, motherhood, and masculinity and femininity with equal wit and insight.
Synopsis
The sequel to The Thoughts and Happenings of Wilfred Price Purveyor of Superior Funerals: "It was a pleasant delight to be invited back into this world" (The Bookbag).
Set in 1926, two years after the end of The Thoughts and Happenings of Wilfred Price Purveyor of Superior Funerals, Wendy Jones's The World Is a Wedding finds Wilfred Price married to Flora Myffanwy and trying to be the perfect husband. His efforts only intensify when he learns that Flora is expecting. But something doesn't feel right to Flora: she doesn't feel at home.
Meanwhile, Grace (to whom Wilfred was very briefly married before he met Flora) has fled Narberth for London, trying to escape what has happened to her and the secret she carries because of it. But secrets are not so easily escaped--and Grace's will affect Wilfred and Flora, too.
A sophisticated comedy of manners, The World Is a Wedding captures life in a small town in Wales and explores the complexities of marriage, motherhood, and masculinity and femininity with equal wit and insight.
"Sometimes it's just really nice to find a book that is well-written, straightforward and tells a relatively simple story . . . There are touches of Dylan Thomas in the villagers' characters, with their whispered gossip and nightly drunkenness, but they're not a bad lot. Naturally, there's some tragedy and some joy, and good things that come out of bad situations. Thoroughly enjoyable."--The Irish Times
"The book is humorous throughout, often hilariously funny."--Star Tribune
About the Author
Wendy Jones is the author of the biography Grayson Perry: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl and the novel The Thoughts and Happenings of Wilfred Price, Purveyor of Superior Funerals. She completed an MA in Life Writing at the University of East Anglia and is currently completing a PhD in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths, where she also teaches. She lives in London.