We Would Never
by: Tova Mirvis
February 11, 2025, Avid Reader Press
368 Pages
Have you ever identified with a book, but then wondered if this made you a terrible person? You might completely understand how things got so off the rails for a particular character, you might empathize with them despite being horrified by their actions, but there is no way you can safely admit this at book club. That feeling of unnerving understanding? That’s Tova Mirvis’s novel We Would Never.
I myself have watched quite a few men and women experience messy divorces at all different stages of life, and can attest that a contentious separation – especially with custody involved – has the potential to change the entire family in ways nobody would previously think possible. In the case of Haley, one of several viewpoint characters, it is not the crippling financial cost of lawyers and court dates that causes her the most upheaval. Is it the possibility that her ex husband is weaponizing their child as a cudgel to continue controlling her.
As many will know, the courts favor the ‘status quo.’ It takes a lot to convince them that one parent can unilaterally move with the child from the location they were living before the divorce. Haley, and the reader, find this especially unjust since Haley had only agreed to move to this location because her soon-to-be-ex had told her that if she hated it after three years they would relocate. Instead, when they three year mark hit, he served her with divorce papers, became even more open about his disdain for her entire family and his wish to alienate her and their child from them, and used the court and custody systems as a means to harass her for not giving in to his demands. We are filled with righteous rage, until Jonah is shot in his home by unknown assailants. Sure we didn’t like the guy, but nobody would go so far as to kill him? Right?
What unfolds from this point is a sordid family saga told from numerous unreliable viewpoints. While it becomes pretty clear that Jonah is no prize, it becomes equally clear that the levels of co-dependence in Haley’s family are unhealthy. You can understand why someone – I won’t give it away – would think that murder was the simple solution to everything. An almost altruistic version of self sacrifice for the greater family good. But you also get the nagging feeling that pretty much everything about this situation is messed up. Which sums up the majority of drawn out custody battles. Luckily, most of them don’t end in homicide.
If you open We Would Never hoping for a thriller, even a psychological one, you will be disappointed. Except for the last few pages it moves too slowly for that. Similarly, it is not a whodunit. It is, instead, a detailed look into troubled family dynamics and how divorce can push already strained individuals to a breaking point.
Maybe you can admit to understanding the character motives in book club, because Mirvis spends a great deal of time letting us into their heads. It’s deeply unsettling and I imagine makes for great group discussion. So long as everybody in attendance gets along. I’d hate to see what happens if a divorced couple was present. Then again, usually only one spouse gets awarded the book club in the splitting of assets. I hope nobody would kill for it.