Horsefeathers, Chaos, and Tragedy

Horsefeathers, Chaos, and Tragedy is an incredible true story about a marriage, divorce, and child custody struggle that happened over a generation ago. This saga happened in Canada at a time when divorce laws were relaxed. One may regard this story, in part, as an exposé of the then rapidly expanding divorce industry. The levels of intelligence, competence, and integrity of a few of the professionals involved in this process at that time are clearly portrayed. Four children were involved. Two of them were old enough to decide where they wanted to live. The custody struggle involved the two younger ones. The problem centered on the behaviour of the two parents and specifically on the marked differences between the public and private conduct of one of them. At various times, four different psychiatrists, more or less independent of each other, were sufficiently concerned about the mother's behaviour that they felt the father should be bringing up these young children. However, the wife hired a lawyer who had a reputation for manipulating witnesses and enhancing affidavits. The resulting struggle, in and out of court, was almost beyond belief.