The Member of the WeddingThe Member of the Wedding
Score Classic
What it's about
Frankie Addams, a bored twelve-year-old, is madly jealous of her brother's coming wedding.
Why it's worth reading
It's on the Guardian's list of 1,000 novels everyone must read. It's an achingly real novel about the emotional turbulence of growing up, from the author of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.
You'll love it if you liked
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
To Kill a Mockingbird
A Tree Grows in BrooklynGood to know
It's a coming-of-age novel.
By the numbers
- Readers34 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics30 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller7 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #199 of the 260 young adult books we rank
- #798 of the 924 classics we rank
- #2553 of the 3,056 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
Moving
More by Carson McCullers
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Young adult booksTop 25 · 260 ranked

Classic booksTop 25 · 924 ranked

Books of the 1940sTop 25 · 57 ranked

Fantasy booksTop 25 · 504 ranked

Mysteries and thrillersTop 25 · 623 ranked

Literary novelsTop 25 · 325 ranked

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelsTop 25 · 63 ranked

Memoirs and biographiesTop 25 · 290 rankedQuick answers
Is The Member of the Wedding worth reading?
Yes. It's on the Guardian's list of 1,000 novels everyone must read. It ranks #2,553 of the 3,056 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 59.8 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is The Member of the Wedding about?
Frankie Addams, a bored twelve-year-old, is madly jealous of her brother's coming wedding.
How long does it take to read The Member of the Wedding?
About 4 hours (163 pages), or about 8 days at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after The Member of the Wedding?
If you liked it, try The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee or A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.