A Departure from the Script (Unabridged‪)‬

Sheila Katz has it all: a successful amateur theater debut, a husband who looks like a movie star and performs in bed like a man twenty years his junior, plus two wonderful grown children. True, her son became Catholic when he married - not a Jewish mother's dream. But Sheila is sure that any day now her daughter will announce her engagement to a wonderful Jewish boy. When the announcement comes though, there's one small change to Sheila's script. Jenny's intended is a wonderful Jewish girl.

With assistance from a support group, Sheila rises to the occasion and helps Jenny plan a blowout lesbian wedding. Even as she calls caterers, Sheila is keeping the affair secret from her disapproving spouse. But another secret disturbs her far more: She has become infatuated with a striking lesbian artist. Now Sheila is dreaming of an affair of her own, one that could alter her life forever. More than an "issues" book, this is a great read, filled with humorous twists and laugh-out-loud scenes.

Yet though Jenny and Tamara are not seeking legal recognition of their love, this groundbreaking novel may have played its part in the growing acceptance of marriage equality. A Departure from the Script was a choice of InsightOut Book Club, and a featured selection of Reading Group Choices: Selections for Lively Book Discussions; suggested discussion questions for book groups are included in the book.