JULY 2014 - AudioFile
Rebecca Lowman, Arthur Morey, and numerous others read the letters, memos, and emails sent between the attorneys and clients of a 1999 divorce proceeding. Each narrator takes a different approach to emotion and, sometimes, accent when delivering his or her assigned correspondence. Young attorney Sophie Diehl learns about handling divorce proceedings from her deep- and resonant-voiced boss, David Grieves, as Sophie helps her client, a Mayflower descendant, divorce her husband. The story, organized by headings with dates and subject lines, is mired in details. The narrators deliver their parts fluidly despite the long-winded nature of the correspondence. Listeners expecting verbal sparring between the divorcees will be disappointed as their story is told primarily through legal documents. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 11/18/2013
In Rieger’s clever and funny debut—an epistolary novel told through memos, e-mails, and letters—Sophie Diehl is a criminal lawyer, working for a law firm in the fictional state of Narragansett in New England, similar to Massachusetts. As she says herself, “I like that most of my clients are in jail. They can’t get to me; I can only get to them.” One of the firm’s managing partners asks her to do an intake interview for Mia Meiklejohn Durkheim, daughter of one of the firm’s most important clients, whose husband served her with divorce papers at a local restaurant. Sophie reluctantly acquiesces and has to learn how to handle a divorce case (rather than a criminal one), while juggling family dynamics, nasty interoffice politics, and the ups and downs of her own romantic life, all as the year 2000 approaches. Lovers of the epistolary style will find much to appreciate. Rieger’s tone, textured structure, and lively voice make this debut a winner. Agent: Kathy Robbins, Robbins Office. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
Ingenious setup and voyeuristic pleasures . . . In her clever modern twist on the epistolary form, Rieger excavates the humor and humanity from a most bitter uncoupling.”—Emily Giffin, The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)
“Fresh and lively . . . smart and wonderfully entertaining . . . . The power and canniness of this bittersweet work of epistolary fiction pulls you along… This portrait of a divorce makes for serious, yet charming, entertainment. . . . A dramatic intertwining of the law and human feelings.”—NPR
“A witty first novel . . . providing all the voyeuristic pleasure of snooping through someone else’s inbox.”—People
“Brims with brio and wit.”—Entertainment Weekly
“This comedy of manners . . . unfolds through e-mails, legal briefs, handwritten notes, and interoffice memos. . . . The texts offer a provocative glimpse of how intimately our documents reveal us.”—The New Yorker
“[Rieger] uses office politics and legal clashes to brilliant and scathingly funny effect. Think The Good Wife but funnier and, in the end, more poignant.”—The Christian Science Monitor
“Whip smart . . . The characters are hilarious and brilliant.”—Lucky
“Smart, sophisticated, and incredibly fun, The Divorce Papers brilliantly combines the pleasures of snooping with the delights of great storytelling. I raced through these charming pages and enjoyed every one.”—Karen Thompson Walker, author of The Age of Miracles
“Terrific fun. I relished every last letter, memo, e-mail, and legal brief in this sneakily clever, insidery peek into the world of privileged families and the lawyers who serve them.”—Kevin Kwan, author of Crazy Rich Asians
“Rieger writes with such facility and humor in so many voices. . . . An excellent yarn about the nature of love, insecurity and commitment.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Exceedingly entertaining.”—Real Simple
“Clever and funny . . . Rieger’s tone, textured structure, and lively voice make this debut a winner.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A brutally comic chronicle of high-end divorce . . . Extremely clever.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Rieger brilliantly blends the serious and the comic. . . . If you like your fiction smart and witty, The Divorce Papers is a winner.”—Shelf Awareness (starred review)
JULY 2014 - AudioFile
Rebecca Lowman, Arthur Morey, and numerous others read the letters, memos, and emails sent between the attorneys and clients of a 1999 divorce proceeding. Each narrator takes a different approach to emotion and, sometimes, accent when delivering his or her assigned correspondence. Young attorney Sophie Diehl learns about handling divorce proceedings from her deep- and resonant-voiced boss, David Grieves, as Sophie helps her client, a Mayflower descendant, divorce her husband. The story, organized by headings with dates and subject lines, is mired in details. The narrators deliver their parts fluidly despite the long-winded nature of the correspondence. Listeners expecting verbal sparring between the divorcees will be disappointed as their story is told primarily through legal documents. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2013-12-21
A brutally comic chronicle of high-end divorce told through letters, emails and a huge pile of legal memorandums. This is the first novel from Columbia Law School graduate Rieger. Brilliant 29-year-old Sophie Diehl is an up-and-coming criminal defense lawyer in the prestigious firm of Traynor, Hand, Wyzanski in the fictional New England state of Narraganset. Mia Durkheim, nee Meiklejohn, the daughter of one of Traynor, Hand, Wyzanski's wealthiest clients, has been served divorce papers by her husband of 18 years, pediatric oncologist Daniel. After Sophie fills in for the firm's vacationing divorce specialist, Fiona McGregor, to take Mia's initial interview--transcript provided--Mia decides she wants Sophia to represent her. Sophie reluctantly accepts the civil case under pressure from managing partner David Greaves. The intimacies of Mia and Daniel's marriage are laid bare largely through Mia and Sophie's emails and Sophie's detailed memos to David about the case's progress. The couple's skirmishes are comically vicious, while the issue of custody concerning their sensitive, precocious 10-year-old daughter deepens the marital drama. As Sophie gears up to battle the sleazy New York lawyer Daniel has hired, she also must contend with Fiona's ruffled feathers and office politics involving ethnic, class and gender issues brought to light in a flurry of interoffice memos--shades of The Good Wife. Meanwhile, Sophie's emails to her best friend chronicle a nonstarter romance and her complicated relationships with high-achieving, eccentric parents whose divorce still troubles Sophie. Rieger pulls out every legal document connected to the case, including witness affidavits, settlement offer breakdowns and legal invoices. Extremely clever, especially the legal infighting; this book should prove hugely popular with the legal set as well as anyone who has ever witnessed a divorce in process.
