I was a bit worried about this one when I hit the "transcription" of the intake interview that the main character had with her client. The language was stilted and definitely literary--no matter how I fiddled with the tones in my head, I just couldn't imagine anyone actually speaking the way they did.*

Fortunately, we were not subjected to many instances of actual talk--this clever epistolary novel is told in legal office memos, emails between friends, extracts from state laws, and court summaries. Sounds dry? I could easily imagine people who would think so. The key parts of the state laws were highlighted to save a reader from having to read the whole thing.

Which is hilarious, because reading the whole thing is totally my thing.

I'm the person who, when reviewing the family history files, didn't want to pull only my great grandparents' pages from their middle school yearbooks because the whole thing had a story to tell--so this was a great book for me. I got to read the memos, the case summaries, and I loved it!

Don't let my description so far put you off, though. It's amazing how much I learned about the characters, who were all lovely and complex, with great backgrounds (one of them uncomfortably familiar). I do quibble the reality of all this personal information being shared in office memos (does any workplace act like that these days?), but it built such real-sounding people that I'd like to know, and a world with the reality of casual sexism and the people who have to confront their own internalized privilege while also navigating a normal, rocky life.

I was a bit skeptical at first about the fact that the story was set in the made-up city of New Salem in the made-up state of Naragansett, but I think that was done entirely for practical purposes, so that state laws could be simplified for us non-lawyerly readers. What started out feeling gimicky ended up being quite well-developed an nuanced.

Unfortunately I wasn't quick about my type-up, which means I probably have fewer details than usual. Suffice it to say, I really enjoyed this book and would definitely encourage anyone looking for some adventurous reading to give it a try.

*I read an ARC, so it's entirely possible this was edited a bit later (though given how final-looking everything was, it's unlikely).


Quote Round-Up


p 26 (Excerpts from an article by a lawyer about divorce): In my experience, men rarely leave, no matter how unhappy they are, unless there's another woman. ... The obverse doesn't hold. if the woman is the one who is asking for a separation, there may not be anyone else. A lot of women simply want out; they fantasize about being alone, sitting in a white room with no phone.
Not quite sure what the second half of that last sentence means, but otherwise an interesting observation. I'd have liked to have read the whole article, because it sounds interesting, but it would have bogged down the narrative structure.

p 34 (The intake interview transcription): I almost lost my patience here. This was where I kept trying on different tones of voice for Mia and coming up blank--there was just no way I could get what she was saying to sound like something someone would actually say. It would be great as an internal dialogue--I hope the author writes more in the future--but for supposedly spoken words? Nope, not working for me.

p 91 (Note from Mia to her would-be ex-husband): In his letter, Mr. Kahn addressed me as Maria. If he does it again (or calls me Mia), I won't sit down in a room with the two of you and negotiate.
What might have been casual sexism later looks more deliberate, but this caught my attention as I read the letter from Mr. Kahn because it's something I see and hear so frequently: men referred to as "Mr. X" and women called by their first names, or even nicknames, in the same situation. Just plain disrespectful!

p 187 (An email from Sophie to her best friend):Never get divorced. The things you fight about are so demeaning. Everything comes down to money. I keep thinking of Oscar Wilde's definition of a cynic as someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. He was talking about a divorce lawyer.
Was tickled to see this turn up. I actually see this quoted rather frequently on the economics list!

p 271 (A letter from Mia's father to Sophie's boss): You're not Jewish, are you? It's fine, of course, if you are. I was just wondering.
You wouldn't expect a scuzzball stupid enough to say this to turn out to have any redeeming qualities in a book...but he does. That's what I like about the complexity of these characters: they're so real in having their little hidden horrors that you kind of pretend not to hear because they're otherwise so nice. I know people exactly like this guy, but we still end up liking him--even if part of the reason I love his daughter is her threat to withhold his granddaughter until he wakes up and smells the antisemitism on his own breath.

p 321 (An email from Mia to Sophie): I didn't want to bother you on the phone again, bu I thought you'd want to know about my follow-up conversation with my asshole husband, the eminent oncologist.
Have I mentioned that I love Mia? Because I love Mia: her frankness, her self-awareness of her ridiculous wealth, her upper-class snobbishness, her rough-and-tumble fighting words. The best of the 1%.

p 394-395 (A psychologist's report on Mia's daughter): A child in Jane's class had been sent to the headmistress's office for swearing at Liz [a teacher]. The parents were called in and the father made a scene. He started yelling, in the hallway, at Liz for making a fuss about nothing. Ms. Meiklejohn, who was fetching Jane, saw what was happening. She went up to the father and said, 'Excuse me, but you're a fucking asshole.' The father swung around and yelled at her, 'Who the hell are you, and where do you get off calling me a name like that?' Ms. Meiklejohn said, 'Well, that's what my daughter told me your son said to Ms. Sugarman, though he didn't say "Excuse me." I thought it was rude, but I wanted to test it on someone. I see it is rude, and upsetting.'
HAVE I MENTIONED THAT I LOVE MIA? BECAUSE I LOVE MIA! ( )

Great character book. I love the format of the narrative and the quotes for literature. I typically read action or psychological thrillers and this matched them well in the drama/comedy genre. ( )

Four and a half. While there was a bit too much legalese to wade through, I do so love a good epistolary novel. ( )

This was a really interesting style of storytelling. It was epistolary, but modern. I did enjoy the story and the arc, although I don't think it will stick with me long-term. Not my favorite book ever, but still worth reading. ( )

I am really wishing for half stars on this one. The truer ranking would be 3.5. I loved the emails and hand written notes, the characters, and the general narrative arc. The forms and paper work I just skimmed. Everything (everyone) also just seemed far too earnest, but still not a bad read. ( )