The Divorce from Hell: How the Justice System Failed a Family

Ashley Thomson is a full librarian at Laurentian University and co-editor or co-author of nine books, most recently Margaret Atwood: A Reference Guide, 1988-2005.

According to the author, Ben Gordon’s divorce cost him roughly half a
million dollars, his house, and the affection of his two daughters. All
this took place between May 1989 and May 1993. Starting in early 1991,
after she began her own relationship with Gordon, Dennis, a freelance
journalist, was an eyewitness to events. The main theme expressed in
this book is that the current system for resolving family problems is
broken. In making this case, Dennis takes us through Gordon’s
expensive dealings with mediators, lawyers, and court-appointed
assessors, chronicling the trials in which he battled for joint custody.


The charges of bias that were leveled against Gordon in the wake of her
article about the divorce (which appeared in Toronto Life in 1996) are
already well known. A more serious limitation of this book is the
author’s failure to acknowledge that Gordon made a huge strategic
error when he fought for joint custody. Such a strategy works only when
both parents set aside personal differences and cooperate so that the
best interests of their children are served. In this case, the parents
had to resort to having a social worker mediate such issues as who would
pick the kids up from school and when.

Although it fails as an indictment of the “system,” this cautionary
tale (which should be read by anyone contemplating divorce) makes for
gripping reading.