The Anita Shreve books that I have read have been historical fiction. A WEDDING IN DECEMBER, though, is what the title sounds like, a book about a wedding, in this case, a wedding weekend. This book does, however, CONTAIN historical fiction, a story within a story.

The main story is a bit soap opera-ish. The story within the story was short on history, long on cliché.

They were a group of best friends when they were in high school, all except one. That was the one member of the group who died before they graduated. Although the others are now in their 40s, the death of the one hangs over their reminisces during that Friday through Sunday they meet for the wedding of two members of their gang.

Each of the seven members of the former high school gang has issues, and these are explored over the weekend. This is the main story.

One of the members of the gang, Agnes, is now writing about a doctor who was a hero when an explosion occurred in the city of Halifax during World War I. Here is our story within the story. This might have been great historical fiction if Shreve had stuck with the devastation and the doctor’s efforts. And it does begin that way. But it turns into cliché with a whining wife, a long-suffering and selfless husband, and an affair on the side.

Nothing really happens in the main story unless you count the arrival of a daughter from a former marriage or a sexual liaison. So you may be disappointed if you expect more.