Mary, Mary (Kerr)
by Jean Kerr

THE STORY: As Howard Taubman of The New York Times describes: ”You will not be overwhelmed to discover that Mary is contrary and that her trouble is basic insecurity.

Seems she had an older sister, a stunner.

Oh, the traumatic effect on Mary!

In high school she went out for the literary monthly instead of with boys.

She learned to compensate for her drabness by being clever.

When we meet her, she is as witty as—well, Jean Kerr.

She appears at the apartment of her former husband, Bob, because his lawyer has summoned her to help with Bob's sticky tax returns.

Their marriage, it seems, foundered on the rocks of Mary's unrelenting sense of humor.

The moment she arrives she gives us some excellent samples of it.

It takes Dirk Winston, a handsome film hero whose star is in decline, to understand Mary.

Dirk makes her face up to her secret.

He also kisses her and offers her the kind of adoration her practical and obtuse husband has been unable to manage.

Just in time, Bob, who has been on the verge of marrying a rich, young health fiend named Tiffany Richards, realizes that he still needs Mary.

It will not be killing any suspense to reveal that true love triumphs.”