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Wedding Puzzle
On the morning of her wedding, 24-year-old Beth Shaw drives down the peninsula to the Portsea Hotel. She is uneasy and confused because she has just learnt something devastating about her fiancé, Jordan, that completely changes her view of him.
As Beth’s old schoolmates and her relatives arrive for the big day at the bayside idyll, Beth contemplates her childhood in suburbia. She worshipped the school relay runners, one of whom was Jordan’s high school sweetheart. Painful memories of earlier disloyalties and betrayals resurface. Her dreams and wedding threaten to spin out of control. Will the truth ever be known? And must she make a fateful decision about more than just her wedding?
Award-winning author Sallie Muirden deftly evokes the contradictions of human behaviour, and growing up in the 70s and 80s. With its Austenesque feel, Wedding Puzzle is an astute, entertaining, and often tense comedy of manners, that considers our choice of partner and the decision to marry as the key moment in our lives.
As Beth’s old schoolmates and her relatives arrive for the big day at the bayside idyll, Beth contemplates her childhood in suburbia. She worshipped the school relay runners, one of whom was Jordan’s high school sweetheart. Painful memories of earlier disloyalties and betrayals resurface. Her dreams and wedding threaten to spin out of control. Will the truth ever be known? And must she make a fateful decision about more than just her wedding?
Award-winning author Sallie Muirden deftly evokes the contradictions of human behaviour, and growing up in the 70s and 80s. With its Austenesque feel, Wedding Puzzle is an astute, entertaining, and often tense comedy of manners, that considers our choice of partner and the decision to marry as the key moment in our lives.
304 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 3, 2023
For someone who has never been into sports, this is boring. Also, all this turmoil means she doesn't know him well enough for the marriage to succeed.
May 31, 2019
I found the main character in this book a bit silly. Her recollections about school life were interesting, and the feeling of not being one of the in crowd. But as an adult, she comes across as dithering and immature, as does the male who she is marrying. I was irritated by their inability to communicate. Surely the letter that sent her into such a spin could have dealt with better, especially since near the end of the book she does recognise Tracy's handwriting on a gift. Something about this book just didn’t work for me.
July 7, 2023
What an odd book.
I didn’t like any of the characters, with the exception of Tracey. Beth is a very strange person, but even stranger and less comprehensible is Jordan. Who’d want to marry such an insipid man, I don’t know!
This book was well written - poetically descriptive yet easy to read. Much of it takes place in the past - it feels like the a nostalgic trip down memory lane by the author.
In a sense, it made me yearn for the ‘easier days’ before mobile phones and the internet completely changed our lives.
But equally, it was a frustrating read - the group of old school frenemies, orbiting around the very ordinary f-boi Jordan, are forever trapped in high school. The characters are in their mid-twenties, but have retained the immaturity of teens.
And of course, the uber-ambivalent Beth is an unlikely protagonist.
Despite all this, I didn’t hate the book. Would i recommend it? Not really. But it didn’t drag.
2 and three quarter stars - a vague and non-committal rating befitting the main character.
I didn’t like any of the characters, with the exception of Tracey. Beth is a very strange person, but even stranger and less comprehensible is Jordan. Who’d want to marry such an insipid man, I don’t know!
This book was well written - poetically descriptive yet easy to read. Much of it takes place in the past - it feels like the a nostalgic trip down memory lane by the author.
In a sense, it made me yearn for the ‘easier days’ before mobile phones and the internet completely changed our lives.
But equally, it was a frustrating read - the group of old school frenemies, orbiting around the very ordinary f-boi Jordan, are forever trapped in high school. The characters are in their mid-twenties, but have retained the immaturity of teens.
And of course, the uber-ambivalent Beth is an unlikely protagonist.
Despite all this, I didn’t hate the book. Would i recommend it? Not really. But it didn’t drag.
2 and three quarter stars - a vague and non-committal rating befitting the main character.
May 29, 2019
Beth is in the final throes of her wedding preparations when she discovers something about her fiancé, Jordan, that threatens their impending wedding. What follows is a painfully slow account of her equivocation about whether the wedding should proceed, interspersed with recollections of her teenage relationships.
What appealed to me about this novel was the setting: the Mornington Peninsula during the 1970s and 1980s. What didn’t appeal were the characters; they were not fully formed and no one seemed likeable. Many references to the past revolved around the school relay team, which got a bit tedious.
At times the plot veered towards farce (which I quite like), but it never really got there. The ending, though fairly predictable, was pretty unsatisfying.
A book that makes you nostalgic, a book that takes place in a single day, a book that’s published in 2019, a book that includes a wedding, a book revolving around a puzzle or game.
What appealed to me about this novel was the setting: the Mornington Peninsula during the 1970s and 1980s. What didn’t appeal were the characters; they were not fully formed and no one seemed likeable. Many references to the past revolved around the school relay team, which got a bit tedious.
At times the plot veered towards farce (which I quite like), but it never really got there. The ending, though fairly predictable, was pretty unsatisfying.
A book that makes you nostalgic, a book that takes place in a single day, a book that’s published in 2019, a book that includes a wedding, a book revolving around a puzzle or game.
May 19, 2019
Wedding Puzzle (Transit Lounge Publishing 2019) is the new novel by author Sallie Muirden, a sort of blend between a romantic comedy and a YA coming of age story. Over the course of one very important day – her wedding day – 24-year-old Beth Shaw contemplates her life thus far and her impending union with her fiancé, Jordan. As she drives down the peninsula coast to the famous Portsea Hotel and as she supervises the arrangements, she is unsettled and disconcerted by a letter she has received that has given her pause, and perhaps reason to doubt Jordan’s emotional fidelity. As the day wears on towards the afternoon ceremony – guests arriving, food prepared, flowers arranged, dress and veil sorted, bridal suite booked – Beth looks back on her life so far, most particularly her complex relationships with high-school friends and rivals.
Beth also has a complicated family history, and the impending arrival of her various relatives is also cause for some consternation. But it is her ties with the baton-wielding school relay team, and the divided loyalties and betrayals of adolescence, along with the chequered past of her husband-to-be, with his many romantic entanglements and conquests, that causes the most confusion.
This novel is almost a stream-of-consciousness narrative, as Beth considers her past behaviour, the actions of her friends, and the bigger question about marriage and all that implies – the commitment, the devotion, the sacrifice, the things she must give up and the things she might gain. There are characters that feel familiar, in the way of infrequently-seen relatives, or old school friends that you meet in later life when it seems two worlds are colliding. The constant reversion to the past was slightly discombobulating, especially as it wasn’t chronological, but provided in glimpses and snatches of memory. And the plot is farcical and over the top, in the way of an old-fashioned comedy-of-manners or slapstick humour (I can see this as a light-hearted film). I think this would appeal to readers who have moved on from the identity searching of young adult literature and transitioned into that twenty-something age, of beginning to analyse their choices and the direction their life is taking, the age when the idea of life-long commitment to another person appears as a possibility, a time when childhood seems long over but the full-on responsibilities of adulthood have not yet taken root. And as the book is set in the late 80’s, it probably will also appeal to those who passed through their adolescence in that period and remember nostalgically the idiosyncrasies and fads of the time.
Beth also has a complicated family history, and the impending arrival of her various relatives is also cause for some consternation. But it is her ties with the baton-wielding school relay team, and the divided loyalties and betrayals of adolescence, along with the chequered past of her husband-to-be, with his many romantic entanglements and conquests, that causes the most confusion.
This novel is almost a stream-of-consciousness narrative, as Beth considers her past behaviour, the actions of her friends, and the bigger question about marriage and all that implies – the commitment, the devotion, the sacrifice, the things she must give up and the things she might gain. There are characters that feel familiar, in the way of infrequently-seen relatives, or old school friends that you meet in later life when it seems two worlds are colliding. The constant reversion to the past was slightly discombobulating, especially as it wasn’t chronological, but provided in glimpses and snatches of memory. And the plot is farcical and over the top, in the way of an old-fashioned comedy-of-manners or slapstick humour (I can see this as a light-hearted film). I think this would appeal to readers who have moved on from the identity searching of young adult literature and transitioned into that twenty-something age, of beginning to analyse their choices and the direction their life is taking, the age when the idea of life-long commitment to another person appears as a possibility, a time when childhood seems long over but the full-on responsibilities of adulthood have not yet taken root. And as the book is set in the late 80’s, it probably will also appeal to those who passed through their adolescence in that period and remember nostalgically the idiosyncrasies and fads of the time.
May 25, 2019
A quirky and entertaining book that challenges the traditional happily ever after.
Troubled by her school friends, the Bride must overcome her peer haunts and forge her own identity.
Light hearted with thought provoking moments, makes The Wedding Puzzle an easy and enjoyable read.
Troubled by her school friends, the Bride must overcome her peer haunts and forge her own identity.
Light hearted with thought provoking moments, makes The Wedding Puzzle an easy and enjoyable read.
May 8, 2019
Brilliant portrayal of life and times of young people in that particular part of the world. Encourages reminiscences of how it was to grow up in the 1970s. Heart-warming and fun!
October 27, 2019
Oh my! I'm glad I won this book and didn't purchase it. Way to much teenage back story to find out why the wedding wasn't going ahead.
December 20, 2019
Couldn’t make it past page 100. Painfully slow ‘slice of life’ book, narrated by a woman reminiscing on her boring high school years in a way that did not hold my attention.
January 3, 2025
Weird and hard to read. Looooong, drawn out story. I skipped paragraphs, pages, chapters.....
Read the first and last chapters and you have the whole thing!
Read the first and last chapters and you have the whole thing!
August 5, 2019
The Wedding Puzzle is the latest book from Australian author, Sally Muirden. The novel immediately got my attention when I discovered it was set in Portsea,Victoria during the 1980s. Going back to the time that fashion wished it could forget was a blast as Muirden dealt with a variety of contemporary issues that are still relevant today. Relationships, friendship, marriage, love and what shapes us all play a part in this easy to read story.
Told in first person through the voice of Beth Shaw, readers first meet her on the morning of her wedding to Jordan. When Beth receives an anonymous letter regarding her finance, all her doubts come flooding in. Over the course of the big day, Beth reflects on her teenage years. High school and family have played a major part in shaping Beth into the person she is, leading to her questioning the biggest decision of her life so far. The many people that I met over the course of Beth’s life up to this point were flawed individuals. Like real life, there were some that I didn’t like. They were immature, particularly Jordan, and disappointingly, didn’t seem to change much after high school was over. It had me puzzling why Beth and Jordan were getting married in the first place. When Beth makes her final decision, all the puzzle pieces finally slot into place.
The Wedding Puzzle is the perfect fit for those nostalgic for a return to the 80s.
Told in first person through the voice of Beth Shaw, readers first meet her on the morning of her wedding to Jordan. When Beth receives an anonymous letter regarding her finance, all her doubts come flooding in. Over the course of the big day, Beth reflects on her teenage years. High school and family have played a major part in shaping Beth into the person she is, leading to her questioning the biggest decision of her life so far. The many people that I met over the course of Beth’s life up to this point were flawed individuals. Like real life, there were some that I didn’t like. They were immature, particularly Jordan, and disappointingly, didn’t seem to change much after high school was over. It had me puzzling why Beth and Jordan were getting married in the first place. When Beth makes her final decision, all the puzzle pieces finally slot into place.
The Wedding Puzzle is the perfect fit for those nostalgic for a return to the 80s.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews