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Apr 15, 2013
"Deeply depressed, corporate lawyer Ben Armstead begins a spectacular downfall when he is accused of rape and drunk driving, loses his job, and checks into rehab. Their assets frozen in the resulting divorce proceedings, his wife, Helen, lucks into a job in PR, at which she proves to be quite talented. Her secret is to convince people to apologise, and her belief that what people do best of all is forgive is borne out in the first of many successes. A "page turner without sacrificing a smidgen of psychological insight" (Kirkus Reviews), this literary novel reflects not only on the ways in which public opinion can be manipulated, but on the challenges of personal relationships as well." April 2013 Fiction A to Z newsletter http://www.nextreads.com/Display2.aspx?SID=5acc8fc1-4e91-4ebe-906d-f8fc5e82a8e0&N=622464 The author of The privileges is an expert on how affluent Americans live. This one is about a couple whose marriage falls apart with the husband self destructing and ended up in jail and rehab. The wife turns out to be an expert in crisis management and gets a top career in public penance for business people. An original look at the American PR world. Review by Philip Tew, fiction selector.