The Unwedding

Condie describes Olivia Haring, the bride whose groom is murdered before their wedding at The Resort at Broken Point, as “lovely” with a “gentle voice” (27). Although Ellery immediately notices the resemblance between Olivia and her mother, Catherine, she notes that Olivia’s “eyes [are] larger, her mouth more full” (158). Olivia is in her “mid-twenties” (27) and “glow[s] with youth and happiness” (26) on Friday night when Ellery meets her for the first time.

Throughout The Unwedding, Condie positions Olivia as a kind of mirror for Ellery, allowing the protagonist to see a version of her own grief, loss and intensity of emotion reflected to her. After Ben is found dead, Olivia’s glowing face transforms with grief: “the pain on her face [is] naked, raw” (95). The contrast between this description and Ellery’s first impression of her demonstrates the power of her grief. Later, when Olivia realizes that her mother Catherine killed Ben, her grief turns to rage. Condie describes her as “knife-blade angry, honed sharp” (274), with an “ice-cold clear” (272) voice as she confronts her mother. Witnessing the violence of Olivia’s anger, begins to transform Ellery’s own grief as well, pushing her toward action. As the novel ends, Olivia is “wild and unhinged with grief” (285) after learning that Ben might have survived the accident but was left to bleed out by Catherine. Ellery recognizes and empathizes with these feelings of “utter despair and loss” (285), and Olivia’s intense emotions reflect the intensity of Ellery’s own grief. Ellery’s connection to Olivia and to the friends she makes at The Resort pulls her from her isolation, making her feel less alone.

Ravi and Nina are old friends and traveling companions who befriend Ellery during their stay at The Resort and become allies to her during the chaos and uncertainty surrounding the murders. Ellery thinks of Ravi and Nina as a pair since they are so frequently together, and she feels drawn to them because they are “smart and fantastic and elegant,” people who do “not take themselves too seriously [and are] goofy almost, in certain moments” (53). Condie describes Ravi as a “slender, dark haired, and graceful” person (27) who “handle[s] everything with perfect grace” (18), while Nina is an “elegant” woman (19) with “good hair” (22), an “excellent accent” (22), and “shrewd, intelligent, and evaluating” eyes (18).

Condie contrasts the genuine loyalty and trustworthiness that Ellery sees in Ravi and Nina with their cavalier attitude toward the crimes being committed at The Resort, adding an element of levity to the increasingly suspenseful narrative tone. While Ellery struggles to come to terms with finding Ben’s body, Ravi is “furiously scribbling down notes” about the crime and referencing mystery novels (89). Nina’s “unflappable” attitude causes Ellery to question whether she even “care[s] that someone [has] died and it seem[s] at least possible that it [is] foul play” (86). Later, Ravi callously tells Ellery that “it’s good you found the body” because “it means people give you a little extra leeway when you’re asking about Ben” (117). Ravi and Nina’s tendency to evoke humor and levity in the midst of traumatic circumstances provides a quirky and humorous contrast to their caring personalities.

Ravi and Nina’s companionship supports Ellery’s character arc as she moves from a place of isolation and loneliness to one of connection and support, underscoring the novel’s thematic interest in The Importance of Maintaining Friendships. Upon their first meeting, Ravi and Nina invite Ellery to eat with them each night, keeping her from standing out among the couples, friends and families. After Ellery faints at dinner on Tuesday night, Ravi and Nina remain by her bedside overnight, watching over her into the next morning; Ellery feels touched by the fact and “they [are] willing to do more than Luke had been willing to do when she and Ethan had been in the car crash” (255). Ravi and Nina’s support allows Ellery to grow in confidence and ultimately solve the mystery.

Andy, groomsman and best friend of the late groom, Ben Taylor, is one of the few witnesses, along with his mother and Rachel, at Ben and Olivia’s courthouse wedding two months prior to the action of the novel. Condie describes him as “that slender kind of muscular—lean, lithe, efficient,” with a “handsome” face and eyes that were “startling blue against his tanned skin” (43). Even though he’s a member of the wedding party, Condie isolates Andy from the rest of the groomsmen who all knew Ben in college—a solitary quality that allows him to connect with Ellery, but also shrouds him in a layer of mystery that raises suspicion about his involvement in the crimes.

Condie ultimately reveals Catherine Haring, the mother of Olivia, to be the villain of the novel—the perpetrator of Ben’s death. Ellery immediately notices that Catherine looks like her daughter, except that her “cheekbones [are] higher, her eyebrows shaped differently” than Olivia’s (29). After the wedding is called off, Ellery senses “an exhaustion to [Catherine], something almost dangerous” (64). Like her daughter, Catherine is characterized by the intensity of her emotions. She claims to have pushed Ben because she was “so angry” at the thought of him leaving Olivia (284). Later, after learning that Olivia and Ben were already married, Catherine is so consumed with grief she “[cannot] make a sound” (287). Ellery recognizes her as “a woman who ha[s] done—inadvertently, perhaps, but still irrevocably—her worst, and who [does] not yet know if she [is] going to be able to survive the consequences” (289). Ellery’s observation provides an emotional link between the guilt of wrongdoing and The Trauma of Survivor’s Guilt. The intensity of Catherine’s emotions makes her a tragic villain.

Condie describes Rachel, Olivia’s cousin, best friend and maid of honor, as being beautiful with “long blonde hair” and fiercely protective of Olivia (116). At first, this protective nature leads her to be suspicious of Ellery, Ravi, and Nina’s investigation. Although outwardly polite, she maintains a “cool weight” in her tone when asking about their intentions. Later, her tone turns “cold” with an “undercurrent of mockery” when she learns about Ellery’s true identity and begins to suspect that she may have also interfered in Ben’s accident (262). Ultimately, Rachel’s resistance to Ellery ends when Ellery uncovers the truth about Ben and Matt’s murders.

Morgan and Maddox, married guests at The Resort at Broken Point, are wealthy, popular influencers on a fictional social media app called LikeMe, posting under a joint account with the name Morg&Madd. The couple comes to The Resort to film content announcing Morgan’s pregnancy to “half a million followers who are going to totally freak out” (55). Condie describes Morgan as a “blond and beautiful” woman in her early 20s who wears her hair “braided up in an elaborate crown with a flower tucked behind her ear” (54). Ellery notes that Maddox has “a hipster-husband look to him” with a “perfectly stubbled” face and hair “combed in that way that always [makes] Ellery think of a rooster” (54). Condie positions Morgan and Maddox as red herrings to distract the reader from the novel’s true killers. Ellery grows suspicious of Morgan, suspecting that she is lying about how she met Maddox: the “forced sound of Morgan’s voice, the way her expression seemed to shutter” cause Ellery to think she may be hiding something (150). Later, she sees Maddox sneaking around the property with a “cold and grim” look on his face “that made him look like a much older, harder man” (138). Condie eventually reveals that Morgan and Maddox met while in a fundamentalist cult, and that they were being blackmailed by Jason, who threatened to reveal their past to their followers. As characters, Morgan and Maddox function as useful distractions Ellery and the reader from the true threats at The Resort.