Vincent Fudge II’s STUPID DIVORCE introduces readers to Edward. While sitting pensively in a chapel at a funeral for his ex-wife Ebony, Edward talks to an old woman, a young man and his own mother. These constructed conversations — elsewhere in the volume with a therapist, attorney, his father and Ebony — are Edward’s jumping-off points. These conversations lead the author, through Edward, into a thoroughgoing inquiry about the dissolution of his marriage: inflection points, regrets, missteps, implications of legal involvement and the persistence of love. His goal here is to help readers understand divorce, and, as he says, to “find truth in my truth.”

Fudge applies what might loosely be called “systems thinking” well in this volume. He articulates patterns and categories that resonate. He typifies the reactions of people separating. He categorizes the dissolution of marriage from least to most contentious. His description of the legal system interactions with divorce is not original, but his critique is cogent and detailed. The “STUPID” in the book’s title is an acronym for Selfish, Time-consuming, Unnerving, Painful, Inconsiderate and Debt-inducing. He magnifies these clarifications and categories by unsparingly applying them to the particulars of his own story. There is an unintended poignancy in this: for all his profound, diligent effort, at times he reveals himself — through his wife’s comments — to occasionally be a better thinker than listener. That said, Fudge musters consider ability to see and describe overarching patterns clearly in a way that will help readers.

Wholly different from systems thinking, but equally moving and valuable here are Fudge’s honesty and compassion. He does not make himself out to be a hero, just a soul who is trying very hard to understand, fix, love and get it right. Nor does he make Ebony out to be evil; mistaken sometimes, yes, but in an understandable human way. There is great courage in writing about something as complex and fraught as divorce without rancor. Fudge lays bare the love and stumbling of two people stuck in their own trouble with considerable sympathy. This, in conjunction with his observation of process elevates his work. STUPID DIVORCE is full of empathy and practicality. The territory of divorce — the complex passage of some relationships marked by love and the inevitability of character and habit — needs any and all available signposts. An experience-based, honest, thoughtful appraisal such as this allows Fudge to honor himself, his ex-wife, as well as to guide his readers through this difficult process.

Vincent Fudge II’s STUPID DIVORCE is an intelligent, well-intentioned, fair-minded and sincere interpretation of divorce by a Christian writer whose systems thinking and introspective honesty illuminate the work.

~Ellen Graham for IndieReader