A THOUSAND PARDONS by Jonathan Dee-Sorry Shouldn't Cut It

The gripping & acerbic novel, A THOUSAND PARDONS is a story of a couple whose marriage has come undone in a major way.  The husband Ben, wants out of his mundane existence.  He's a successful lawyer with a wife and teenage daughter.  Ben & wife Helen have an adopted Chinese daughter, Sarah.  The family has been living outside Manhattan in an upscale neighborhood.  The couple seek marriage counseling to no avail.  Ben's attention turn on an attractive female intern who turns the tides & sues for sexual harassment.  Ben is fired from his firm, faces disbarment & prison and  his face gets busted by her boyfriend.  Helen is now faced with the ignominy of her husband's travails and faces financial ruin.  Amazingly, she lands a public relations (PR) job in NYC where  she is surprsingly adroit.  This job leads to a lucrative PR job with a prestigious firm.  She & her daughter gladly move into the city.  Jonathan Dee was Pulitz. Prize Finalist (Privileges) and proves himself a crafty storyteller with a flair for parody.  Dee lampoons the PR trope of apologizing & all is forgiven.  Just own it, apologize (regardless of sincerity) and you too shall receive redemption.  It appears all too easy which is the point.  It's not easy to lable PARDONS merely a family drama, a marriage saga, a tale of teen rebellion or a corrosive satire on our pathetic manuvering in a blameless & litigious society.  The  jest of this shrewd novel is all culpability can be spun away.