We Are Gathered

Humor and sorrow join together in Jamie Weisman's captivating debut novel--the story of an interfaith wedding from the perspectives of its (adoring, envious, resentful, hilarious) guests One afternoon in Atlanta, Georgia. Two people heading to the altar. One hundred fifty guests. The bride, Elizabeth Gottlieb, proud graduate of the University of Virginia and of Emory University School of Law, member of Atlanta's wealthy Jewish elite. The groom, Hank Jackson, not a member. Not a Jew. The couple of the hour, however, is beside the point, because We Are Gathered belongs to the guests.

Among them, Carla, Elizabeth's quick-witted, ugly duckling childhood best friend turned Hollywood film scout, whose jaundiced view of the drama that is an American wedding provides a lens of humor and its corollary, deep compassion for the supporting actors who steal the show; Elizabeth's great-aunt Rachel, a Holocaust survivor from Germany who is still navigating a no-man's-land between cultures and identities decades after escaping from the forests of Europe; Elizabeth's wheelchair-bound grandfather Albert, who considers his legacy as a man, both in the boardroom and the bedroom; and Annette, the mother of the bride herself, reminded now of her youthful indiscretions in love and motherhood.

Balancing razor-sharp humor with a blunt vision of the fragility of our mortal bonds, Jamie Weisman skillfully constructs a world--and family--that pulls you in and carries you along with its refreshing, jagged beauty.

"A big-hearted and clear-eyed story of life's biggest choices: who to love and how best to love them...Compulsively readable and oh so worth the read."
--Heather Harpham, author of Happiness: The Crooked Little Road to Semi-Ever After

YOU ARE INVITED...

To the wedding of Elizabeth and Hank. But the bride and groom are beside the point. Because, on this hot Atlanta afternoon, the people of the hour are the wedding's (adoring, envious, resentful, hilarious) guests.

Among them, Carla, Elizabeth's quick-witted, ugly duckling childhood best friend turned Hollywood film scout with a jaundiced view on life (and especially on weddings); Elizabeth's great-aunt Rachel, who is navigating a no-man's-land between cultures and identities; Elizabeth's wheelchair-bound grandfather Albert, who considers his legacy as a man in the boardroom, but mostly in the bedroom; and Annette, the mother of the bride, reminded now of her youthful indiscretions in love.

Tender and bitingly funny, We Are Gathered pulls you in and carries you through a (dysfunctional, loving, witty, unforgettable) world and family; it is a not-to-be-missed debut from a "writer to watch" (Caroline Leavitt).