At Last

In the perceptive latest from Silver (The Mysteries), two strong-willed women clash after they become entangled by their children’s marriage. In 1971, Helene Simonauer travels from Cleveland to Omaha, Neb., for the wedding of her son, Tom, to Ruth Turner. There, she feels snubbed by the Turner family, especially Tom’s mother, fellow widow Evelyn. A flashback to Evelyn’s teenage years in the 1930s recounts how she lied about getting a part-time job in Omaha as an excuse to spend her Saturdays away from her controlling mother. Helene’s West Virginia childhood, on the other hand, was shrouded by grief over her siblings’ sudden deaths. When Ruth and Tom have a daughter, Francie, in Cleveland, Evelyn moves to town and Helene becomes fiercely competitive with her fellow grandmother. She even takes a young Francie ice-skating despite not knowing how to skate herself, causing Francie to fall and break her arm. By the early 1980s, Ruth and Tom’s marriage becomes strained following their move to New York City, while Helene struggles to find purpose and Evelyn weighs her long-term suitor’s marriage proposals. Silver strings together evocative vignettes depicting a series of consequential moments, each of which serve as prisms into the characters’ complicated lives. It’s a resonant family drama. Agent: Henry Dunow, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner. (Sept.)