The Proxy Marriage by Maile Meloy

This short story appeared in The New Yorker just two weeks ago. As I am always behind in all of my reading material I just read this last night. I almost always have a favorable impression of the fiction entries in the magazine, often some of our best contemporary writers are amongst the authors.

I believe that Maile Meloy might be a relatively new author. I am not sure of this fact. In anycase this short story, dealing with the issue of proxy marriage is a true winner.

I was not aware, as I am sure most people are not, that proxy marriages, or marriages where one party cannot be present and has a stand in are allowed in many states. This story centers on something even more rare, double proxy marriage where both parties are not present. This is only legal in Montana.

The story features a young man and a young woman. The girl the daughter of a widower lawyer in town is named, appropriately enough, Bridey. She is an attractive popular young woman who is the object of the affection of a young man in town who is not as popular. A musician, a pianist they meet while doing theater arts, she dances as well.

Over the course of their high school years, then college they are the proxy groom and bride for tens of couples. Bridey's father, being a lawyer, becomes known for helping arrange these marriages, often for those in the military. What starts as exciting becomes, for the young man, a chore. His feelings for her grow deeper. As their lives push them beyond Montana and college, to her efforts at performing in New York City to his becoming a composer they still, here and there, communicate, maintain their friendship, and apparently this will always be an unrequited or even on the part of Bridey an unknown love.

In the end the relationship reaches a turning point. The story is like many you have read, it is just the back story of the proxy weddings that adds a depth and spin you have not often seen. I found myself when finished with it thinking that this would make a great movie. Being a short story it might need to be fleshed out but this has all the makings of a story that has mass appeal. Not sickly sweet like those awful Sparks books but a story which you could see some top line actresses and actors in.

We shall see if that comes to pass, I am not usually a romantic story reader but this is a story you should seek out and read. Very well done.