Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Book Review: The Girls are Gone

The Girls are Gone by Michael Brodkorb and Allison Mann

This could have been an interesting story, but... reading it was a slog. Most of the book is detailed accounts of very messed up and convoluted court appearances. A seemingly happy family spirals into chaos when the mom decides to get a divorce and spews incorrect, harmful, and disdainful stories mostly about her ex-husband but even some about her own kids. Her attorney is on her same level of craziness. It's a mess for years as they fight for custody of the kids. For well over two years, two of the five children are abducted and hidden.

I felt voyeuristic, nosing into the details of this chaotic situation, especially since the family lives in a suburb not too far from me. I feel bad knowing all the dirty dealings that happened within their family (99.9% perpetrated by the mom). I also was bored with all the lengthy court descriptions, many times told in verbatim conversations. I skimmed over a lot of it.

An unsettling side point: the mom's ineffective/dishonest attorney is still practicing law in Minnesota. I don't understand why she has not been disbarred.



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