Unions

Stuart and Marry were once married. She is half-Jewish, attractive, earthy; he an old-money WASP. They can joke now (however it hurts Marty) that they never really belonged together in the first place. In the years after the divorce, both have tried to regain their lives and independence even while juggling custody of their young son, Ben, between weeks and weekends. Marty has tried to date; and Stuart has fallen in love - or so he tells himself- with rich blond from the North Fork of Long Island. The story begins as preparations for two vastly different weddings unfold. Stuart is to be married again, to that ultimate WASP diva, Linda van Dorn. The wedding will cost thousands upon thousands of dollars; preparations are extravagant; tensions high. In stark contrast is Marty''s involvement with the wedding of her younger brother, Arnold. Her middle class parents present a whole other world of preparation: more than a shade tacky, dull as dishwater, yet quietly quirky, even hilarious. Marty forces herself to date; Stuart slugs down too many martinis with his friend Peter, but the weddings must go forward even with all the bushel of reservations each side carries. The world of urbane middle-class values, Jewish and WASP as well as class distinctions collide in a shattering moment that clarifies the superficiality, hypocrisy and even the depths of true love revealed in the life of one real woman.