A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summaries & Analyses
Quizzes
Reading Tools
Meet the key characters, with insights into their roles, motivations, and relationships—spoiler-free.
Layla is a physician who travels to Paris for the destination wedding of her former sister-in-law. Divorced from Jamie for two years, she attends the wedding out of obligation to his family and intends to maintain a polite facade. The trip causes her significant anxiety, as she must return to the city where she honeymooned and face a family she has largely avoided. She struggles with a pattern of prioritizing the comfort of others over her own emotional needs.
Ex-wife of Jamie MacKenzie
Former Sister-in-Law of Emily MacKenzie
Romantic Interest of Griffin Testa
Former Daughter-in-Law of Robert MacKenzie
Former Daughter-in-Law of Manon MacKenzie
Friend of Cara
Doctor to Willa
Griffin is Michael's best man and a wealthy inventor who designs building materials. He lives with extensive burn scars, chronic neuropathic pain, and contractures that limit his mobility. To manage his condition, he maintains a reclusive lifestyle in upstate New York and heavily dreads the travel required for the wedding. His blunt honesty and isolated habits stand in direct contrast to Layla's accommodating nature.
Best Friend of Michael Plackett
Romantic Interest of Layla Bailey
Object of Resentment for Fitz Plackett
Object of Resentment for Paula Plackett
Opponent of Jamie MacKenzie
Friend of Sara Beth
Emily is the earnest bride-to-be whose destination wedding brings the characters to Paris. She maintains a deep sisterly bond with Layla and insists on her presence despite the awkwardness of the divorce. Overwhelmed by the pressure of her upcoming marriage and her fiancé's impending move to Germany, she leans heavily on Layla for emotional support as she begins to experience severe doubts.
Fiancée of Michael Plackett
Former Sister-in-Law of Layla Bailey
Sister of Jamie MacKenzie
Daughter of Robert MacKenzie
Daughter of Manon MacKenzie
Best Friend of Rosie
Niece of Céline
Michael is the groom preparing to marry Emily. He shares a close, codependent bond with his best friend Griffin, a relationship forged in the aftermath of a shared trauma. Desperate for a fresh start with his future wife, he avoids addressing his parents' open hostility toward Griffin and keeps painful elements of his past hidden to maintain harmony.
Fiancé of Emily MacKenzie
Best Friend of Griffin Testa
Son of Fitz Plackett
Son of Paula Plackett
Connected to Sara Beth
Jamie is Layla's ex-husband and Emily's brother. He maintains a polite exterior and insists on treating Layla as family, a behavior that forces her to hide her true feelings. His presence at the wedding events alongside his new girlfriend creates significant tension as he struggles to accept the boundaries of his dissolved marriage.
Ex-husband of Layla Bailey
Boyfriend of Samantha
Brother of Emily MacKenzie
Son of Robert MacKenzie
Son of Manon MacKenzie
Rival of Griffin Testa
Rosie is Emily's bold and expressive maid of honor. She serves as a fiercely loyal friend who provides unfiltered commentary on the tense atmosphere of the wedding week, frequently cutting through the pretense of the other guests.
Best Friend of Emily MacKenzie
Acquaintance of Layla Bailey
Samantha is Jamie's new girlfriend who accompanies him to the destination wedding in Paris. She frequently experiences sudden illness during the wedding events, inadvertently contributing to the escalating chaos and tension among the guests.
Girlfriend of Jamie MacKenzie
Robert is Jamie and Emily's father. He loves his family but exerts subtle pressure on everyone to conform to an idealized family narrative, openly insisting during a toast that Layla remains part of their family despite her divorce from his son.
Husband of Manon MacKenzie
Father of Jamie MacKenzie
Father of Emily MacKenzie
Former Father-in-Law of Layla Bailey
Manon is the mother of Jamie and Emily. She contributes to the stressful environment by making intrusive suggestions designed to accommodate her son at the expense of others, heavily investing in the family's romanticized connection to Paris.
Wife of Robert MacKenzie
Mother of Jamie MacKenzie
Mother of Emily MacKenzie
Former Mother-in-Law of Layla Bailey
Fitz is Michael's rigid and judgmental father. He harbors unresolved hostility toward Griffin due to a past tragedy, frequently criticizing his son's best friend and creating a palpable chill within the wedding party.
Paula is Michael's mother. She acts as a passive figure who deflects her husband's harshness rather than confronting it, often blaming Griffin for her son's bad moods in order to smooth over family tension.
Sara Beth is a figure from Michael and Griffin's past. Her tragic death in a house fire years ago left profound emotional and physical scars on the survivors, and the unspoken grief surrounding her continues to haunt the families involved.
Friend of Michael Plackett
Friend of Griffin Testa
Cara is a fellow medical professional and Layla's close friend back in Boston. She provides Layla with support and a sense of distance from the intense dynamics of the Paris wedding.
Friend of Layla Bailey
Willa is a fifteen-year-old passenger who faints on the flight to Paris, prompting Layla to step in and offer medical assistance.
Patient of Layla Bailey
Céline is Emily's aunt, a member of the extended MacKenzie family who attends the wedding events and casually discusses the family's shared history.
Aunt of Emily MacKenzie
Aunt of Jamie MacKenzie