Lucy Foley - The Guest List

You are invited to join Wendy and Amy for a thrilling discussion of Lucy Foley's thriller The Guest List. Revenge, ominous birds, crazy facts about weddings, and a trip to  an Irish isle are all part of the ceremony. Pop a cork to weddings with a side of revenge!

Next Episode: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. Special guest: 7-year-old Kristen from Delaware discusses and helps rate the book.

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

Prosecco N Prose | Season 2 | Episode 13 | The Guest List by Lucy Foley

Co-Hosts: Wendy (W) | Amy (A)

 December 9, 2020

Introduction of Bubbly, Prose, and Podcast – 00:00:00
 Welcome |   – 00:00:46
 Champagne Discussion and Tasting – 00:03:49
 Author Information – 00:04:25
 Main Character Introduction – 00:06:50
 Summary with Spoilers – 00:08:00
 Handful of Hyperbole
1)    Theme – Revenge  – 00:13:00
2)    Symbols and Motifs – Cormorant Birds, Folly  – 00:16:23
3)    Voodoo Name Book – William “Will” and Julia “Jules”  – 00:22:00
4)    Game – 2 Facts and a Fib about weddings here and abroad  – 00:23:38
5)    Random – Take a tour of Inishbofin  – 00:30:40
Closing and Outro – 37:12
 
Next episode’s prose: Barbara Robinson’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever with featured 7-year-old guest Kristen from Delaware.

 00:00
 Amy (A:) Welcome to Prosecco and Prose Episode 13.

Wendy (W:) This week’s prosecco is Gemma di Luna.

A: This week’s prose is The Guest List by Lucy Foley

 * * * intro * * *

00:46
W: I’m just a bit excited to be doing a thriller for our 13th episode … seems so fitting.

A: It really does. I just hope this 13th episode doesn’t have any of the bad luck that one of our characters did in the novel.

W: I think we can ward off any bad luck with this pretty prosecco.

A: I couldn’t agree more. Now, this sparkly bottle is a perfect pairing for a story surrounding a wedding.

W: I love this bottle … and I’m sure many of you will recognize it … a pretty teal bottle with a sparkling crescent moon. Gemma di Luna, or gem of the moon.

A: This was definitely an appearance buy for sure, and it gets excellent ratings on Vivino, a whopping 4.0 out of 5. Bam!

W: Maybe they are rating the label?

A: We shall see...we shall see! So, this prosecco is a DOC, the most common of Proseccos, extra dry … which means it falls between dry and brut and is 10.5% alcohol...a little less than our normal of 11%, but we need to keep our guard up today, you know, with this thriller. A bottle of this will run you about $15--very affordable for a wedding.

W: Right! The Gemma di Luna website describes it as a floral bouquet, a symphony of fruit, tingly acidity, with a subtle sweetness, and a mineral finish. Besides this prose, it pairs well with fruit appetizers, prosciutto-wrapped melon, cured meats, and Asian dishes like Thai noodles and sushi.

A: That sounds pretty amazing … let’s see what we find. Starting with color...let’s look!  Enoitalia, the distributor, says it’s a pale straw yellow with greenish highlights.

W: Greenish? Interesting …But l do have to say that I kind of do see a hint of green, don’t you?

A: I do, I do…the color for me, is definitely straw but I do see some of the greenish tints, but maybe it’s the reflection of our shirts. Hmmmm!  

W: Could be a little bit of our bluish turquoise green, now our aroma, or bouquet … oh I definitely smell some flowers. Do you smell some flowers? 

A: So, they said a floral bouquet … I’m not sure I’m skilled enough to identify the smells of a multi-floral bouquet, but I do smell flowers, maybe some peaches. 

W: Oh! Yeah! Nice! I’m ready to get onto the tasting part. 

A: Me too!

W: So, let’s try it. Oh, it’s citrusy for sure. Um, is there apple? Do you taste apple? 

A: I do! I do? Most of the Proseccos have a little apple flavoring to them. 

W: Right they do! And lemon. 

A: Oh! This is really, really good! I am really tasting the peach. 

W: You are tasting the peach! 

A: I am. Maybe it’s because we had the cantaloupe. 

W: Maybe. I suppose a little bit, but I am definitely tasting the lemon in this. 

A: Yes, it’s very citrusy. 

W: I definitely like this one. Enoitalia described it as effervescent with a dry yet fruity body that ends in lemon curd, honey butter and a mineral finish. I know you can pick out that mineral finish. 

A: Most definitely. It’s overly effervescent! Look at the Perlage! So many pretty bubbles in the glass. I’m going to steal Sadie’s line and say it’s a little celebratory! 

W: For a wedding?

A: I mean, the label alone is a party.

W: It is, it’s so pretty. get some of those flavors in the finish. Especially the lemon. I definitely get the lemon. 

A: I get that this Gemma di Luna Prosecco is a good one and definitely worth the high rating. Just wish we would have considered getting sushi from Momo’s Cafe in Old Town, Alexandria. But we need to get on with our prose.

04:25
W: Author time? Lucy Foley lives in London with her husband. She is best known for her three novels of historical fiction, The Book of Lost and Found, The Invitation, and Last Letter from Istanbul. The Hunting Party was her first thriller and The Guest List, which we are discussing for this episode, was published in June 2020.

A: Ms. Foley worked as a fiction editor in the publishing industry for several years before leaving so she could write full time. In an interview with her, a digital lifestyle magazine based in Ireland … 

W: … very a la The Download … 

A: … very! She said she’d been thinking about writing a thriller …she stated “I had this idea niggling at me for a while, that I wanted to read a modern take on Agatha Christie -- that classic, closed room setup. And then I was like, ‘well, I could just have a go at writing it myself.’”

W: I’m actually reading my first Agatha Christie right now at the behest of my niece who said it really, really good, Auntie Wendy. But that’s one way to get a book you want, just write it yourself!

A: Ya think? I’m not quite sure I’d have the dedication to write a novel let alone the research involved. I’d go down too many rabbit holes and forget about writing.

W: I can see that … I probably would have the same problem, which, interestingly, Ms. Foley said she tends to put her settings in places she’d like to visit.

A: Smart girl! That gives me an idea, Wendy...I’m going to Northern Italy for research.

W: For a novel or prosecco?

A: Probably for both. But my novel would be set in, obviously, a prosecco vineyard.

W: And will be years in the writing and research phase.

A: Well, I would want to be thorough and accurate.

W: But of course. Now back to Ms. Foley … and I found this in an article in the New York Times, August 13, 2020. (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/books/review/the-guest-list-lucy-foley.html) She had initially wanted the wedding to take place on a Greek island. I would love to go to Greece, wouldn’t you?

A: I would too!

W: As she wanted to go there on a research trip, but it just wasn’t gelling for her … not enough darkness. Then on a trip to Ireland, she and her husband were exploring Inishbofin, a rocky island off the coast of Connemara, which she said half her family is from, and it was love and inspiration at first sight.

A: I loved this setting. 

W: Yes!

A: I can’t even imagine her setting being on a Greek sunny isle.

W: Me either. Fantastic setting … which we will come back to later. 

 A: Okay . . .  so, this being a wedding, there are a lot of characters...might I say guests...and we truly do get to know quite a lot of them.

W: We do.

06:50
A: But we will keep this brief to just introduce. First, we have our bride and groom, Will, a successful TV star on a survival type show, and Jules, founder of a very successful online lifestyle magazine.

W: Aoife, wedding planner, and owner, with her husband Freddy, a chef, of the Folly, a restored 10-bedroom property that is the wedding venue.

A: Johnno, I’m a huge Johnno fan...but he’s Will’s best man and best mate from school.

W: Yeah, I like Johnno. Hannah, the plus one. She is Charlie’s wife. Charlie, the wedding emcee, is Jules’s best friend, and it seems her only friend, quite honestly.

A: Good point … she did not seem to have any friends other than Charlie. A bit of a judgy character, wouldn’t you say? Then there is Olivia, Jules’s little sister, and bridesmaid, who recently left university after what appears to be a bad breakup.

W: Yes … everyone has a story though, and they are all quite connected.

A: “Quite” is an understatement! I just really enjoyed learning how they came together. Now before we get to our summary...as usual...possible spoilers ahead, so if that does not work for you, just come back after you’ve finished reading. The story is told in alternating timelines, the wedding night and the 24 hours leading up to it.

08:00
W: It is told through the eyes of Aoife, the wedding planner; Jules, the bride; Hannah, the plus one; Johnno, Will’s best man; and Olivia, Jules’s younger sister, and bridesmaid. It may seem like a lot to keep up with, but Ms. Foley did a great job with chapter titles, so you knew exactly who and when every time the storyline changed. I actually loved it.

A: Definitely a character-driven story. The story opens on the wedding night. There is a looming storm. The lights have been flickering and now the reception party is plunged into sheer darkness. When the lights flicker back on, the guests hear a horrible scream of terror outside in the darkness.

W: Creepy … and what a way to pull you in. The first character we meet is Aoife and her husband Freddy. They have restored an old folly in hopes of making it a destination. She was able to snag the potentially very profitable coup of Will and Jules’s wedding through a contest Jules was having through her magazine, a contest to find the best wedding venue which would then be featured in the magazine.

A: Then we meet Hannah, the plus-one to Charlie, Jules’s best friend. Hannah is a mother of two young children and while she feels out of place amongst the celebrity and exclusiveness of the group, she is looking forward to a get-away with her husband, who has been acting rather strangely ever since he came back from Will’s stag party.

W: Hannah and Charlie have lost some of their closeness since their children arrived and Hannah has always wondered about Charlie and Jules’s extremely close relationship. Additionally, we learn Hannah had an older sister, Alice, and something quite traumatic happened to her at university almost two decades ago. Something that left a lasting effect on Hannah's whole family.

A: We then meet Jules, the not-so-blushing bride, who has received a note three weeks prior--a note warning her not to marry Will. This note has left her quite unsettled. While Will and Jules are physically attracted to each other, there is just a bit something she cannot put her finger on …

W: … reading the note, maybe? 

A: Possibly!

W: She certainly hung onto it and continued to reread it.

A: … maybe, but it has given her a feeling of dread. Jules is not particularly close to her parents. Her father has been mostly absent in her life, yet he’s there to walk her down the aisle. Hmmmm! And then there’s her mother, who was quite self-absorbed for most of Jules’s life but came around to mothering Jules’s half-sister, Olivia. 

W: Just in time and that causes a lot of jealousy for Jules. I have to say, for me, I felt like Jules was simply putting up with everyone in attendance at her wedding … did you feel that way?

A: Ummmhummm!

W: …except for Charlie. 

A: Right!

W: He seems to be the most important person to her. They met when she was a teenager, he taught her sailing lessons, and they’ve been friends—air quotes—ever since.

A: Johnno, Will’s best man, again...one of my favorites...has not been dealt the best hand in life. Just noticing that I always seem to root for the underdog...Wouldn’t you say? But Will seems to be his only friend and the friendship does feel a bit one-sided, with only Johnno making the effort to maintain the connection. 

W: Right!

A: Will, Johnno, and the rest of the ushers, had a game they played in school called survival … a sort of initiation/hazing-like game the boys would do. We learn something happened during one of the hazing incidents that shaped Johnno for the rest of his life. He is definitely carrying a burden of guilt and feels Will is the only one who truly understands as they were in it together.

W: Finally, Olivia, the bridesmaid and Jules’s little sister. She is definitely troubled and would have rather not even attended her sister’s wedding, much less be her bridesmaid. She has had a very rough time at university, just broke up with her first real boyfriend, who seems to have hooked up with her friend almost immediately after, and she recently dropped out of school.

A: As with all the other characters, there is more to Olivia’s story. She met a guy on a dating app... shall we call him Steven?  

W: Sure…

A: …and they became really close. They attended a party Olivia’s sister held for her magazine, The Download, and then Steven...suddenly disappeared from Olivia’s life. 

W: Ghosting her.

A: Ummmhmmmm! Obviously heartbroken, but more than that, she finds herself pregnant.

W: Right! As the story continues, between learning each of the character’s backstories and the actual wedding night, everyone has something that could drive them to seek revenge … but on who, and who has the guts to pull it off?

A: There were so many great twists. I was definitely guessing right up until the end, and then I’m like what??? I am just so thankful you got me hooked on thrillers. 

W: I’m telling you!

A: I'm a danger to myself!

W: Same. I mean I had to go back and reread. I was rethinking everything!

A: Me too! Me too! I had to go back and find the clues that I missed with another reading!

W: Of course, you did!  I mean that’s your style. I wouldn’t expect anything from you. Theme’s Amy?

13:00
A: Right...so we wanted to visit the theme of revenge … it ran through the entire novel like a slow slow, burn. 

W: Oh exactly…very good! Just when you thought you had a character pegged as the perpetrator of the crime, someone else's story sheds new light on the situation.

A: There’s a lot of tension between a lot of characters, and as their dark pasts begin to unfold, any number of them had reasons to exact revenge on any number of those present.

W: They did. So, let’s start with Olivia … she is very angry … she’s very troubled … she’s worried about Jules’s safety. She’s been cutting herself to deal with the pain of her breakup, loss of the new boyfriend and baby, and she knows something about Will. Something that could hurt her sister.

A: Then we have Johnno … he and Will go all the way back to boarding school. Johnno was implicated in stealing exam answers to help Will. And Will was the instigator of a fatal hazing incident that he and Johnno carried out, but just like the exam answers, Johnno has been the only one to pay the price. 

W: Exactly. Johnno was always made to feel inferior to Will and the other ushers … he was in the school on scholarship, unlike the other boys, who came from money.

A: And, we learn that Will and Johnno had planned to co-star in the survival show, but we later find out that Will cut him out … Johnno certainly has many reasons for exacting revenge on Will.

W: He does … but as we said, everyone seems to have a little something to keep us guessing … What about Hannah with Charlie and Jules’s relationship? The ambiguity there.

A: Right.

W: Remember when she reveals to the reader how Charlie’s behavior changes around Jules every time, they are together? 

A: Right and we find out that something did actually happen between those two… he acts “more haughty,” and kind of belittles Hannah, embarrassing her. Hannah, hard as she tries not to be, is jealous of Jules. 

W: I don’t blame her honestly. And we know something happened to Hannah’s sister, Alice, at university that caused her to take her own life, and then little bits of stories from the rehearsal dinner and superstar Will’s recognition of her … she starts to wonder if there is some connection here now to her sister’s story from the past. Maybe she can right the wrong of what happened to her sister.

A: Well, there is also Charlie … 

W: Yes!

A: The ushers thoroughly embarrassed him on the stag trip. 

W: They did!

A: Hannah tells the reader that he’s drinking more and acting out of character. So maybe he’s the one who wants revenge on one of them.

W: Good point, and Aoife … something happened to her in the past … she tells us right up front that terrible things happen, a fact she knows from her childhood. “You can’t control more than a single day, but you can control one of them.” Is Aoife bringing people here to avenger her past? Control one day?

A: Possibly … No one, let me say that again, no one is exempt from being the criminal OR the victim. 

W: Nope!

A: That felt so good relieving that tension. So, let’s do a couple of symbols.

16:23
W: You crack me up! But carry-on now that you have it all out!

A: Oh, I feel so good. It’s just a thriller. 

W: I know; it’s so good. 

A: I never used to like them. You’ve just got me sucked in. 

W: I’m reading another one right now; I might have to… 

A: Share the wealth…so let’s look at the Cormorant bird. To me, it was a looming symbol of gloom and doom...note my rhyming scheme to paint you a picture, Wendy. 

W: Duly noted! I like it. 

A: Thank you...but...any blackbird with a sharp beak that dives so volatilely for food has to be bad luck! 

W: Ya think? But schoolteacher Charlie used his trusty Googlewebs to acknowledge this. Charlie finds that it is a folklore symbol of greed, and you guessed it, bad luck and evil. 

A: We definitely have all three of these situations “looming” in this novel. I, too, was perusing the Googlewebs and found that Cormorants travel and hunt in groups…

W: Hmmmmmm! Like the Trevellyan Academy of Bully Boy Ushers? Femi, Duncan, Peter, and Angus? 

A: You make it sound like such a boy band…

W: If the shoe fits...right?

A: Maybe...But we can’t forget Will and Johnno traveled as a part of the group in their earlier years as well...

W: That’s right…

A: …sort of like a boy band.  But cormorants are also resourceful little buggers and commit to their prey. They don’t let up until they get what they want.

W: Like Revenge?

A: Kind of … exactly, like Revenge! But tell me about the use of the word “folly” as a dual symbol. I loved this! Wendy is so good at finding duality...

W: I don’t know about that!

A: For once...I was receiving the notorious scrolls! So, do...please share!

W: Yes, I was sending scrolls. Even Ruffino was like what are you typing on your phone. She’ll get it … so the folly was where the group slept, had the rehearsal dinner, played that obnoxious drinking game … 

A: Right … and where Aoife and Freddy resided.

W: Yes … and it had me a bit confused, as to the meaning, so I looked it up and folly is a whimsical or extravagant structure built to serve as a conversation piece, lend interest to a view, commemorate a person or event … they were found especially in England in the 18th century.

A: Well, that makes sense. Aoife and Freddy did beautifully restore it to an elegant ten-bedroom property with a dining room, drawing room, and kitchen. And their purpose was to draw people to the island and make it a destination. And if I remember correctly, Aoife’s family is originally from the island. So, maybe there was something in her that is subconsciously commemorating her family … 

W: Oh, good point. I hadn’t thought of that actually…

A: …there is the gravestone she visits that belongs to someone in her family. Yep, there is definitely something there! there! 

W: There is; I had forgotten about her family being there, so that is a good point to bring up but I agree … all that is true, and makes sense, but I kept thinking that folly also had to do with a joke or something, and the first meaning I found for folly was … lack of understanding or sense … a foolish action … a costly and foolish undertaking … an unwise investment or expenditure.

A: That is quite interesting … definitely some foolish actions taken by members of the group while on the island. They obviously all drink too much … one couple is even caught in the bridal suite with their, shall we say, pants down.

W: And not a couple that belongs together! Right! They went to their opposite tables, Aoife tells us. But there is also the fact that Aoife and Freddy probably poured a lot of money into refurbing the place and now that a murder has happened there, their investment might not pay off so well.

A: Or it could pay off very well. Some people love ghost stories, haunted places, and possibly exploring the scene of the crime.

W: That’s a good point … just not sure many would want to make it a wedding venue.

A: You never know...when in Ireland...not Greece or Rome … but those dual meanings definitely fit our story to a T.

W: I thought so … interesting stuff … so what did you find in the Voodoo name book for this one? 

 
20:20
A: Now I only covered William, who goes by Will, and Julia, Jules' given name. If you guys are curious about any of the other names, feel free to reach out and ask on any of our social media. I would love to fill you in on some of the other characters’ names and findings. 

W: So William, … such a solid name for someone maybe not so solid?

A: This was interesting … I found that Williams are successful, affectionate, and are inclined toward a love of the arts.

W: Sounds like Will … definitely successful, can’t keep his hands off of Jules, and is the star of a TV show.

A: Exactly … a couple of other things … Williams...they force away the competition when competition arises.

W: Hmmm … getting rid of Johnno as a co-star.

A: Yup … and a preoccupation with hygiene. When Will and Johnno are chatting on the roof early on, you know...catching up, Johnno notes Will has always been a bit vain.

W: Yes, and then after the cake cutting, Will complains about icing in his hair and that he hates it when his hair gets messed up by the wind. There’s some vanity there. What about Jules?

A: Julia’s are highly driven people … career is very important to a Julia and “a Julia" is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve her goals.

W: Sounds pretty true to form with our Jules.

A: Our Jules is definitely not spontaneous, instead...she prefers predictability … 

W: She is orchestrating every moment of the wedding … maybe a bit of a control freak.

A: You think? Now Julia’s love beautiful things and take care of their health and physical appearance as did ours.

W: That makes me think of when she tried on her wedding dress. It sounded exquisite and she let us know it was very, very expensive.

A: She did! And Jules was also very concerned with Olivia’s appearance … She thought Olivia was too thin even though she still felt her sister was quite beautiful. Chances are, she will have a marriage that many can only dream about.

W: Well, a destination wedding on a remote island in a castle-like building … I think it’s safe to say that this is many a girl’s dream and not reality.

A: There were just a couple of things that didn’t seem to be quite our Jules though … Julia’s have a natural tendency to attract a wide circle of reliable friends … 

W: Wow! No! She has Charlie, but that seems it. Her employees are there, but I wouldn’t call them reliable friends.

A: I agree and the other finding was that Julias have a duty-bound feeling to always put others first, to devote one’s whole life to the happiness of others … 

W: Not sure Jules is all that concerned about the happiness of anyone but herself. There are some moments with her sister, but otherwise, she seemed pretty self-absorbed.

A: No, she doesn't want anything to take away from her day. This is about her and how great she and Will look together.

W: Yes, a lot on just how well they complement each other appearance-wise … not the deepest relationship.

A: Not so much … we’ll see how long it lasts. 

W: To the bottom of this bottle.

A: Foley may or may not have done any research on the meaning of names...but not everyone does this when writing a novel. Some were close where others weren’t. But I think its game time. Moving right along! 

23:38
W: Yes!  You came up with this game, Amy, and I think it was just so we could both do more research since we can’t seem to get enough of it.

A: Actually, no, but that is a great idea in the future. We are going to play Two Facts and a Fib. We will give each other three traditions about weddings (here or abroad) and the other has to guess which one is the fib. Now you know I have to spice things up with every game, so if you guess correctly, I drink, but if you guess incorrectly, you drink, and then vice versa.

W: So, somebody’s going to be drinking!

A: Someone will always be drinking! 

W: Sounds fun and it was very fun researching these facts. There are some very weird wedding traditions out there in the world.

A: [laughing] Yup, there certainly are. Okay … here we go!

A: 1. Parents or elders accompany the newlyweds on their wedding night in certain African tribes to show the couple the ropes on how to spend their wedding night. 

W: [laughing]

A: 2. The bride and groom of the Tidong community in Borneo are confined to a house or a room where they are not allowed to take a dump or even pee for 3 days and 3 nights. 

W: Seriously Amy?

A: 3. In China, the bride is expected to cry for about an hour each day for a month prior to her wedding. Her mother, grandmother, sisters, and other female friends also join in for the cause.

W: Okay, Amy those all sound really unbelievable …You would find something about poop and pee…

A: I love potty talk!

W: I know but honestly, I’m going to say that one because that is just terribly unhealthy. How do you even think up these things?  I mean, they’re going to get an infection!

A: Nope…

W: Nope?!? You’re Bleep me. Whoops! Bleep that out! But no pun intended. I definitely need a drink for that one.

A: It’s the first one I read. It’s only the mothers who accompany the newlyweds on their wedding night to show them how it’s done. Glad I didn’t have to do that for my son. 

W: He probably already knew the ropes, Amy. Moving on … 

A: We won’t go there!

W: I’ve got my three. Are you ready?

A: Uh hun!

W: I don’t know if they go where yours go!

A: They are probably going to be boring. 

W: 1. In France, you can legally marry a dead person, as long as you can prove the deceased intended to marry their partner before they died.

W: 2. A double wedding is considered good luck for the couples because of all the love and happiness the two couples generate. 

W: 3. In Denmark, brides and grooms traditionally cross-dress to confuse evil spirits.

A: Those are good ones … and I do apologize for calling you boring

W: Thank you!

A: But I do love a drag queen! Am I right...is it the cross-dresser?

W: So, you think that’s the false one?

A: It’s got to be.

W: Bottoms up, my drag-loving queen!

A: What? Then which one? The other two sound ridiculous.

W: Yours were ridiculous as well. A double wedding is actually considered bad luck because it’s just too much happiness for evil demons to overlook.

A: That is so boring! I’d rather hold my poop and pee for three days. 

W: Ewww … I’ll pass!

A: But I am definitely going to take you to a drag show when COVID-19 is over...my friend and old hairdresser Tim introduced drag shows to me in Tennessee. They are so fun and always attached to a cause. You know… Scholarships…awareness...There was one here in DC that was about feral or unwanted kitties! I had a blast!

W: I’d tag along with you to a drag show though. 

A: Alright, I’ve got three more for you … 

A: 1. In China, a prospective husband will shoot his bride with a bow and headless arrows several times, then he collects the arrows and breaks them during the ceremony, to ensure their love lasts forever.

W: Wait … he’s going to shoot them at his bride? Did she sleep with a groomsman?

A: Don’t interrupt, Wendy … it’s rude … take a drink … 

W: Just saying!

A: 2. Couples in Chile don’t wait for the wedding to start to wear their wedding bands. They start wearing their rings upon their engagement, and at the wedding, the rings are transferred from their right hands to their left hands in order to signify their marriage.

A: 3. A Mongolian couple hoping to set a wedding date must first kill a lammergeyer, which is a bearded vulture, and cut it apart, holding the knife together, until they find a healthy liver. 

W: Ewwww!

A: Once a healthy liver is found in the flock they can proceed with their date. 

W: Okay … very deep … and possibly disturbing … but I’m going with number one. You can’t shoot arrows, headless or not, at your bride! 

A: Take a drink…

W: What? Are you serious??? Then it has to be the last one.

A: Yep… it is number 3. The couple has to find a healthy liver by killing baby chickens…not vultures! 

W: Oh so they still have to kill and find a liver. 

A: Uh-hum! Once they find a viable liver...they can set their wedding date. Hoping it doesn’t take too many chickens to find a good liver. We might need a drag show for a cause. 

W: Maybe but I guess our livers wouldn’t make the cut. Now for my last three … 

W:1. Saturday is not only the most popular day to get married, it is also considered the luckiest day to marry. Bonus points if it also rains. 

A: Did you get married on a Saturday?   

W: Don’t interrupt...it’s rude...now you take a drink...I did, and it rained. What about you?

A: I did, and it rained as well. Lucky us!

W: Lucky Us! 2. Until 1912, if a woman in the UK committed a crime in her husband’s presence, he was legally considered to have coerced her into doing it. I like that one. 

W: 3. The Catholic tradition of “posting the banns” to announce a marriage originated as a way to ensure the bride and groom were not related.

A: I’m going to go with three...posting the banns...I definitely wouldn’t want to marry a family member...remind me to tell you the scare Josh and I had early on about marrying a family member...that’s another episode...that’s another discussion. 

W: Oh My! You best top off your glass and drink up. Can’t wait to hear this story. But Number one … Saturday is actually the unluckiest day to get married, even though it is the most popular. Wednesday is the best day to marry.

A: Okay … but just letting you know that I’m only on day two of three …holding it! And getting the urge that I got to go! 

W: Way too much information … I could finish your prosecco though to help you! 

30:40
A: Let’s move on to the final section as I’m starting to prance around. Random? But that was very interesting. Weddings are weirder than I thought! 

W: That happens with a lot of things, Right. So I said we’d be coming back to the setting, and here we are. I thought it would be fun to give some info on the island that inspired the setting … a little touristy info.

A: Sounds fun. Ms. Foley described it so well, I could really picture it. 

W: She did. Now there was another quote from Ms. Foley from the New York Times article. Amy will link that for you if you are interested in reading it. “I stood there, looking out at the Atlantic, feeling this constant wind buffeting me, and thought, ‘This is my island.’ It’s very beautiful on one hand - you can imagine it being a place where people would want to have a wedding - but on the other, it can be a hostile environment and work against the characters. Which it does.”

A: I loved how she described the wind, and again, we had a bog with its hidden and preserved bodies.

W: We did … it’s a little creepy. So, the real island, Inishbofin, is an island about seven miles off the Galway coast, which is about in the middle of the west side of Ireland. Now I got my info from http://www.inishbofin.com and Amy you can link that for our listeners, no?

A: Sure. I read Inishbofin translates to Island of the white cow, based on a legend that two fishermen got lost in the fog and landed on an enchanted island. They lit a fire, which broke the spell and lifted the fog. They saw an old woman driving a white cow. When she struck the cow, it turned to stone. There is also another legend that every seven years, the old woman and the cow emerge from the lake to forewarn of impending disaster.

W: Love a little folklore to add to the mystery. 

A: I do too!

W: Now Inis an Amplora, our setting, (now we're back in our book) was described as having church ruins, the folly, and also white sandy beaches with clear turquoise waters...maybe like our bottle of bubbly.

A: Yes, and it was a bit of a juxtaposition for me …was it for you? The brooding darkness of the storm and winds with sunny sandy beaches … it kind of didn’t seem possible to have all that on one tiny island.

W: I was intrigued as well, which led me to this research. There are indeed, white sandy beaches on Inishbofin. They’ve been awarded the Green Coast Award, which is awarded for their clean environment and excellent water quality. Swimming is a very popular summer activity.

A: Oh Brrr… it sounded so cold in the novel … Hannah even talked about going swimming, and all I could think of was how cold the water really did seem.

W: Same, but apparently, it does warm up. The pictures are absolutely beautiful. There are also the ruins of the Cromwell Barracks. They were built in the mid-16th century and used to hold captured Catholic clergy from all over the country after the English Statute of 1655 declared them guilty of high treason. Later, it was used as part of a defensive strategy.

A: Sounds very similar to our folly’s possible history … Johnno and Will did sit upon the battlements sharing a beer and catching up. Loved how Ms. Foley weaved the facts of this island into her fiction. The setting was so integral to the story.

W: It really was … one other fact I found quite interesting … The island has no trees or forests. Any wood the early settlers found was cut down and used as heating fuel. Because of the salt-enriched air, trees were never able to re-establish themselves.

A: Interesting!

34:42
W: Very! Any final thoughts to wrap it up?

A: Well Wendy...again...this was another great thriller...I do have to mention, though, that we are surely drawn to stories having to do with the boggy bog. Did you have a certain Deja vu of Karen Russell’s The Bog girl from Season 1?

W: It did pop into my mind. I kept thinking about what the boat captain told Hannah and Charlie on the way over about all the preserved bodies in the bog. It was so creepy.

A: When the ushers were pulling Hannah from the bog, I couldn’t help but picture Killian pulling his beloved Bog Girl from the muck.

W: Oh wow! Right …That’s the only way I can see that … poor Hannah.

A: I was also picturing the Bog Girl making her presence known at the wedding, all trendy and such.

W: Of course! Maybe she and Killian, with her mop of red hair and genteel smile, might have been an interesting addition to the guest list.

A: Well, the bog girl was a high society girl. She would’ve fit right in. Wouldn’t she of? And … OMGosh! … Uncle Sean and his 2000 beers! He would have fit in nicely with the ole Trevellyan crowd. 

W: Who can forget uncle Sean? 

A: [Amy singing] Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall…ninety-nine bottles of beer….

W: Right! Especially when they were banging and cheering. He probably would’ve drunk them under the table! 

A: I'm pretty sure Jules would not have appreciated them all being passed out face down on their plates for her wedding. 

W: What? Do you mean control freak Jules? 

A: Exactly! What a fun episode, though...can’t believe that was early on in 2020...time moves on so fast.

W: And this episode as well. I’d say that’s a wrap. What do you think? 

A: I think we're done. I can’t believe it. 

W: Join us in two weeks for our next episode which will be a beloved and kid friendly Christmas story, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. 

A: We will have a special guest for this episode… you don’t want to miss it. In the meantime, don’t make pour decisions. Get it, Wendy? P-o-u-r decisions!

W: Uhm yeah! It took me a prosecco minute!

A: Geh! Oh quit your whining!

W: What? 

A: Cuz it’s not good to keep things, shall I say, bottled up.

W: Like for three days?

A: [Amy laughing hysterically] 

W: …and nights? Wow … but hey, what can we say? 

A:/W: THE PROSECCO MADE US DO IT! 

37:12

***Outro***