The Divorce Lawyer

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Author: Ellie Monago
Publisher: Bookouture
Date Published: May 10, 2024

“But as I stand in the courtroom, listening to this poor woman break down sobbing, my stomach twists. I can’t look. Her husband says she can’t be trusted. Her child is about to be taken away from her. And it’s all my fault.Because she is not my client. Her husband is.”

This book was a cautionary tale about what happens when you stray from your convictions about what is the morally right thing to do. It’s also a wake-up call about the ubiquitousness of surveillance and technologies that can be used for evil in the wrong hands.

Monago builds on the character of Esther, who insists that she deals in “family law” not divorce. But up until now, she has worked as an advocate for women in what she considers bad relationships, working to win custody battles. Peter seems determined to threaten to expose her secret, forcing her to take his custody case, and someone is anonymously messaging her with ominous disappearing texts in an app called Sleight, which was created by Peter’s prodigy, Avery, Ellie begins to spiral down wondering if she really is the “good” person she thought she was, and if now Avery, or even her boyfriend, know her secret too.

The author is a practicing therapist, so there is a ring of truth to the custody and mediator portions of the book. Almost all of the characters in the book were unlikeable, so not everyone will like it, but it was quick-paced and an interesting read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advance reader’s copy.

Ellie Monago is the pen name of an acclaimed novelist and practicing therapist. She’s also a wife and mother, and when you add it all up, she doesn’t wind up with much time for hobbies. But she’s an avid tennis fan, a passionate reader of both fiction and nonfiction—especially memoir (nothing’s as juicy as the truth!)—and she relishes a good craft cocktail.