The Divorce Papers: A Novel - Hardcover

Rieger, Susan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0804137447 ISBN 13: 9780804137447

Publisher: Crown, 2014

Synopsis

Sparkling and sophisticated, this sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking debut novel tells the story of a very messy, very high-profile divorce and the endearingly cynical young lawyer dragooned into handling it.
 
Twenty-nine-year-old Sophie Diehl is happy toiling away as a criminal law associate at an old-line New England firm, where she very much appreciates that most of her clients are trapped behind bars. Everyone at Traynor, Hand knows she abhors face-to-face contact, but one week, with all the big partners out of town, Sophie is stuck handling the intake interview for the daughter of the firm’s most important client.
 
After eighteen years of marriage, Mayflower descendant Mia Meiklejohn Durkheim has just been served divorce papers in a humiliating scene at the popular local restaurant, Golightly’s. Mia is now locked and loaded to fight her eminent and ambitious husband, Dr. Daniel Durkheim, Chief of the Department of Pediatric Oncology at Mather Medical School, for custody of their ten-year-old daughter Jane. Mia also burns to take him down a peg. Sophie warns Mia that she’s never handled a divorce case before, but Mia can’t be put off. The way she sees it, it’s her first divorce, too. For Sophie, the whole affair will spark a hard look at her own relationships—with her parents, colleagues, friends, lovers, and, most important, herself.
 
A rich, layered novel told entirely through personal correspondence, office memos, e-mails, articles, handwritten notes, and legal documents, The Divorce Papers offers a direct window into the lives of an entertaining cast of characters never shy about speaking their minds. Original and captivating, Susan Rieger’s brilliantly conceived and expertly crafted debut races along with wit, heartache, and exceptional comedic timing, as it explores the complicated family dynamic that results when marriage fails—as well as the ever-present risks and coveted rewards of that thing called love.

About this title

About the Author

SUSAN RIEGER is a graduate of Columbia Law School. She has worked as a residential college dean at Yale and an associate provost at Columbia. She has taught law to undergraduates at both schools and written frequently about the law for newspapers and magazines. She lives in New York City with her husband. The Divorce Papers is her first novel.

Reviews

Sophie Diehl is a young law associate working for a well-established New England firm. She specializes in criminal law, working with people behind bars, at least partly to avoid the face-to-face contact family law requires. But with the other associates out of town, Sophie is called to do an intake interview for a divorce case. She agrees, with the stipulation that her involvement ends when the interview is over. Instead, the high-profile client takes a shine to Sophie, insisting Sophie handle her divorce. With heavy support from her boss, Sophie agrees to tackle this new challenge, becoming a better, more confident lawyer in the process. Rieger presents her story in epistolary fashion, through personal correspondence, office memos, e-mails, articles, and legal papers, giving the novel an almost voyeuristic feel. Where Rieger excels is with her characters. Sophie and her crowd are witty, insightful, and interesting people. Although the legal documentation gets heavy at times, Rieger’s method of delivery makes her first novel a refreshing and absorbing read. --Carol Gladstein

Edition details

• Publisher: Crown
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0804137447
• ISBN 13: 9780804137447
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 480