Once upon a time, a couple met, fell in love and settled down with zero complications . . . said no rom-com ever. A relationship with only smooth sailing will always fall a little flat. A good story needs tension, complexity, conflict. The characters need to work through serious issues so they earn their happy ending. And then, if the story really wants to shine, it needs banter.
Nobody bantered like the silver screen icons from Hollywood’s Golden Age, and there was no more delightful example of that standard than Hildy Johnson and Walter Burns (played by the iconic Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant) in His Girl Friday. The pair were old-school newshounds with printer’s ink in their blood, a tumultuous love for each other in their hearts and the quickest, sharpest dialogue imaginable on their lips. Crafting a modern-day spin on Hildy and Walter is a high bar for an author to set for themselves, but author Amanda Sellet flies over the hurdle with ease in My Best French Wedding, which features banter as effervescent and hilarious as any screwball comedy fan could hope.
In My Best French Wedding, Walter and Hildy are not crime reporters but lifestyle writers, warring over covering the wedding of the season. Switching back and forth between the past and the present, we see the complicated history that led to their current status: how the two of them found each other, fell for each other, misunderstood each other and then spent the next decade competing ferociously as they consistently managed to bring out both the worst and the best in each other. However, it must be said that their relationship-ending misunderstanding does feel rather forced, and a bit of a letdown, seeing as it’s revealed near the conclusion of the novel.
But that is forgivable when the story practically fizzes over with bubbly energy, from the dynamic leads to the endearing secondary cast (the bride and groom of the titular wedding are especially sweet) to the gorgeous setting in the French countryside. Sellet brings the locale to vivid life with her lush descriptions of decadent food, exquisite locations and richly romantic set pieces, including one in a restored castle. It’s a setting custom built for embattled lovers to finally admit that they’ve truly met their match.