Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead

There is no such thing as a wedding without its share of minor or major catastrophes. Winn Van Meter’s daughter’s wedding has both.

In this first novel by Maggie Shipstead, Winn’s eldest (and very pregnant) daughter Daphne marries at their summer home on the New England Island of Waskeke.

Winn is a slightly pompous man whose current obsessions (other than his Harvard club, The Ophidian) are his pending membership application to the exclusive Pequod Golf Club and Daphne’s friend and bridesmaid Agatha.

The three-day wedding celebration provides the opportunity to act on both his obsessions with results both comical and affecting.

Beautifully written and paced, this is wonderful read.