The Sadness of Divorce and Losing Friends

I’m losing two very dear friends, Sophie and Mia.

Sophie is an awesome criminal law attorney who is almost 30. She’s unmarried, blond and very intelligent. She’s half French, on her mothers side and Jewish on her dad’s side. She works for a law firm in New York and enjoys her job very much. Recently she was bamboozled into handling a divorce case. She hates divorce and divorce cases and it’s one of the branches of law that she swore she would never do. But unfortunately this one fell into her lap and she had no choice. Sometimes life is like that.

See, Sophie’s parents divorced several years ago and it was a very traumatic time for her and for her other siblings. Sophie felt as though not only did their dad divorce their mom, but he divorced them. She feels that her dad is angry with them because he felt they were on her mothers side. I know from experience how this can feel. You love both parents so much and yet you feel divided when you hear one talk of the other.

My other dear friend is Mia aka Maria Meiklejohn Durkheim. She is the woman that Sophie is working for, she's the client Sophie is representing in this divorce that she doesn't want to do! Sophie likes Mia and Mia likes Sophie. They feel a kinship right away and the friendship and mutual respect develops from there. Mia is a really great mother and in my estimation of how divorcing couples can be she seems very fair and except for a few moments in the beginning of the divorce proceeding she is not being led by her emotions but instead of what is going to be best for her daughter.

The sad thing about losing these two woman that have become my friends and that I've invested time and energy and emotion on is that they are characters in a book that I've read for my online book club, From Left to Write!

Yes...you may say, "Oh wow Alicia, they aren't even real friends, or real people!" But they are! Characters in a book become real to me and Sophie and Mia are now people that I will miss! I won't get to hear how the rest of their lives turn out. Or how Mia's daughter grows up having to share her life with both her mother and father. Will Sophie find true love with Matt, will she marry him, will she have children? How will she balance motherhood and her career?

I will never know any of these things, unless there's a sequel!

How I hope there is a sequel!

Do you become invested in books like this? Do you hate to see a book end because you feel like the characters have become friends and you are going to miss them? I have to admit this has happened to me more than once!

This post was inspired by the novel The Divorce Papers by Susan Rieger. Young lawyer Sophie unwillingly takes her first divorce case with an entertaining and volatile client in this novel told mostly through letters and legal missives. Join From Left to Write on March 18th as we discuss The Divorce Papers through inspired posts. As a member I received a copy of the book for review purposes. I give it 5 Stars and 2 thumbs up!

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