I could not have been more wrong. It was not a boring documentary at all. It was a story of a life struggle of immense proportions. It was an epic struggle for nothing more or less than justice. More than that though, it was also MY story. And your story. And any Canadian Fathers story. It is a story of outrageous legal torture by a system which was supposed to be one which dispenses justice but which delivers anything but justice. It's what we Fathers Activists call "The Horror". And Rob Tansley was not just in that horror he was wallowing and drowning in it. Just like so many of us.

From the end of the first chapter to the last Rob Tansley tells the day to day, week to week and then month to month story of his emotional torment within the grip of a merciless system which as he suggests in one chapter he 'played' and was part of - only to discover it was one which he played by the rules but which rules were "designed to fail". He describes the legal process as in terms of the falling of legal "dominoes". It is so familiar.

During the reading I found I could not put it down even at the parts where I recognized my own unfolding nightmare within his descriptions. I was drawn to it all in some fascinatingly morbid and almost voyeuristic way. I have asked myself why I put myself through reliving it all in Tansley's book and the answer is simply because it's the truth. I know it's the truth. I have lived that story. In one way or another.

Any divorced or separated man or father will recognize at least one part of his personal "Horror." In the "Anatomy of Divorce" Rob Tansley tells of his futile attempts to save his marriage for the sake of the children. In this of course he recognizes that he was lucky albeit dubiously lucky. Most
Fathers never realize that the marriage is failing and are flung straight into the legal abyss. The way Tansley relates it his marital decline was gradual and excruciatingly predictable for the reader. A living hell most divorcing Fathers know but few would want to repeat. In reading Rob Tansley's book it is revealing to say the least to look back at our own nightmare stories through the eyes of one of us.

I cannot recommend this book more highly. It should be standard reading for Fathers and Men in the beginning, middle or at the end of divorce and the family law travesty.  I will go further to say that it should be prescribed reading for all Men and Fathers who are not in the divorce game-but could be at any time. It might even be enough to get some to work a bit harder at making sure they do not trip and fall into the "horror".  It can only be described as a "must read" and a story of sheer courage in the midst of dreadful circumstance.

And finally it seems to this reviewer that "The Anatomy of Divorce" could well serve all the Judges and Lawyers who are such an integral part of what constitutes the family nightmare of divorce court and its aftermath. It would pay for them to understand what it is they unleash in family court and how badly it affects so many innocent people. 

Next Review . . . . .