WEDDING IN OCTOBER

by Geoffrey Clark

“A novel about loss and learning and love that is hard to put down and not to be forgotten” from the author of Necessary Deaths (Carl Dawson, author of Living Backwards ).

An off-season wedding at a local resort is an exciting event for nineteen-year-old Miller and the residents of the small town where he lives in 1950s Michigan. After all, the owners of the resort are local royalty—and it is their daughter who is getting married. Miller and his brother will be working behind the scenes at the wedding fattening their wallets in the process. It’s a win-win situation. But it’s the bride’s sister who steals the scene for Miller. And though she’s ten years his senior—and married—they embark on an unforgettable love affair that will change the trajectory of both of their lives.

“A rich and gorgeous novel, deeply rooted in memory, delicately constructed, filled with subtle and compelling characters. While grappling with universal themes and events, Geoffrey Clark creates a world that is unmistakably Midwestern: fertile and expansive, plain-spoken and harshly beautiful. Wedding in October will lay claim to readers’ minds and hearts, its hold both gentle and utterly tenacious.” —Susan Dodd, author of The Silent Woman

“Geoffrey Clark formulated into words those sublime experiences that habitually leave no trace in the compartments of our consciousness save a film whose images have silvered.” —Dennis Must, author of Banjo Grease

192 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2002

About the author

Geoffrey Clark was born and raised in lower northern Michigan. He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and author of eight works of fiction, among them Schooling the Spirit, Jackdog Summer, Wedding in October, and Necessary Deaths. He retired as Professor of Creative Writing at Roger Williams University in 1999. He lives in Warren, Rhode Island.

Reviews

[Selina Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

Great book! Reads like an “old fashioned” novel in many ways, although I think it was written fairly recently. Very well written at any rate, evoking deep emotions and images in the reader’s mind. Reminiscent of F. Scott Fitzgerald, this is quite a serious and deeply profound novel. Belongs in the category of a classic. I simply loved it!

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, the title offers little in the way of summarizing the book. I expected a tame love story, but instead learned about Miller Springstead’s coming-of-age. I suppose certain parts of the book could (with a stretch of the imagination) be considered a love story -- as Yvonne does have a lot to do with this 19-year-old Michigan boy’s leap from boy to man -- but I was a bit disappointed from the get-go because I anticipated a different story entirely.

But I did manage to take away from the story a magnificent reading list, provided by HG and Yvonne (they mention all the greats – Fitzgerald, Shakespeare, Chekhov). Also, I thought Geoffrey Clark’s placement of flashbacks fused present events with fond memories much better than most novels whose characters reference the past. I especially liked how he organized them in the table of contents, giving both the present and bygone days equal importance by naming each section. Every chapter has a flashback subchapter except for the last one, where Clark, like Miller, lets go of the past and looks instead to the future.