Stephen Greenleaf: The Ditto List (UK 2016)

From the Publisher:
Stone v. Stone, Finders v. Finders, Preston v. Preston
Mareth Stone's comfortable life comes under threat when her wealthy husband unexpectedly files for divorce and full custody of their children.

Disabled and poverty-stricken, Esther Preston finds her life in danger when she decides to sue her ex-husband for help with her medical bills.

Young, pretty and badly battered, Lucinda Finders must leave the man she loves to save the life of her child.

Into the lives of these three women comes D.T. Jones, an L.A. lawyer who actually cares about his clients. Making a living in the divorce courts from the weekly 'ditto list', D.T. must fight to survive when these three cases plunge him into the dangerous world of violence, malpractice and blackmail.

Stephen Greenleaf: The Ditto List. Mulholland Books, ISBN: 9781473624146 (November, 2016), eBook, 0.58 MB (ca. 384 p.), £9.99.

Stephen Greenleaf: The Ditto List (USA 2016)

From the Publisher:
A slightly sleazy divorce lawyer discovers something strange about himself: a conscience
There are seven women in the courtroom, and D. T. Jones loves them all. They are women who married young, have been mistreated, and have no prospects, no hope. For them, Jones will do all he can, which isn't much. A cut-rate divorce lawyer, he specializes in default settlements -- no alimony, no property, no fight. He's not good, but he's fast, and his clients ask nothing more.

Despite his cynical exterior, Jones considers himself a knight in rusty armor, helping women whom the world has failed. He yearns for a single quest worthy of his talents. He'll get three: A battered pregnant woman, a penniless sufferer of multiple sclerosis, and a betrayed housewife all come to Jones begging for his help. Each case is impossible. To take all three could be professional suicide. How could he say no?

"Lively." -- Kirkus Reviews
"A superior writer." -- The New York Times on Fatal Obsession

Stephen Greenleaf: The Ditto List. A Love Story Abour Divore. MysteriousPress.com / Open Road Media, ISBN: 9781504027625 (February, 2016), eBook, 3.2 MB (ca. 474 p.), $7.99.

Stephen Greenleaf: The Ditto List (USA 1986)

From the Publisher:
A good divorce lawyer is hard to find.
Meet D.T. Jones, short on money, big on style. What sets him apart from other legal eagles is not his fancy ways (his office has one more room than the Legal Aid's down the street) or his loyalty (he'll only borrow money from his beautiful ex-wife) or his devotion to his television set. It's the pure and simple fact that he really cares about the clients -- his "ditto list" -- who bring him their broken lives.

There's Meredith Stone, who plays the role of wife and mother to perfection -- until her husband gives her his walking papers as coldly as he gives her his laundry. There's Lucinda Finders, who is young, pretty, and pregnant, chained to a man who gets his kicks by beating her. Last but not least, there's Esther Preston, confined to a wheelchair, whose near destitution is ignored by her ex-husband, one of the wealthiest doctors in the community.

"Three women headed for disaster. D.T. takes them on, charges ahead, calls in favors, and loses sleep over them -- determined to set things right for his clients as well as himself, determined to believe in a happy ending, even if it kills him...

"FUNNY AND INTELLIGENT." -- The San Francisco Chronicle
"A SLICK PERFORMANCE." -- Cosmopolitan

Stephen Greenleaf: The Ditto List. A love story about divorce. D. T. Jones is a lawyer who cares -- and he's got as many problems as his clients... Ballantine Books, ISBN: 0345321391 (July, 1986), 401 p., $3.95.

Stephen Greenleaf: The Ditto List (USA 1985)

From the Publisher:
The New Yorker called Stephen Greenleaf "a real writer with a real talent" and The New York Times Book Review said he has "the instincts of a good storyteller." With The Ditto List, Greenleaf proves his genius once again for creating distinctively appealing characters, sharp dialogue, fine writing, and biting humor.

D.T. Jones is a self-employed divorce lawyer who lives and breathes "the ditto list" -- his gay secretary's pet name for the divorce court calendar. Though divorced himself, D.T. is an expert at handling divorce cases. He really cares about the women who bring their broken lives to him. A man whose humor and concern are rivaled only by his need to drink and gamble to excess, D.T. sees himself as a kind of knight in rusty armor.

Approached by three women -- each of whom has a difficult and seemingly hopeless case -- D.T. agrees to represent them. They are:
Mareth Stone: the perfect suburban housewife and mother, whose husband informs her of his plans for divorce as coldly as he tells her how to starch his shirts.

Lucinda Finders: a young beauty whose luscious body is made for love -- except when her husband beats her.
Esther Preston: a warm, gentle woman with multiple sclerosis whose ex-husband is one of the richest doctors in the community, but who refuses to rescue her from destitution.

Surrounded by women professionally, D.T. also has his share of females in his personal life. There is Barbara, his hip girlfriend, who believes in "coupleist" relationships, fasting, white-water rafting, and feminist writers; Heather, his eight-year-old (going on thirty-five) daughter, whose very existence means everything to D.T.; and Michele, his fabulously wealthy ex-wife, who lends him money to cover his gambling losses (as well as to pay his secretary's salary) and whose weekly phone calls are the highlight of his life.

But it is D.T. who is the focal point of this story. His touching determination to set things right and obtain a happy ending, despite his own foibles and the ways of the world, makes him a heartwarming and unforgettable character.

The Ditto List, reminiscent of such contemporary classics as Kramer vs. Kramer and Ordinary People, involves the reader completely in the traumas and triumphs of its characters' private lives. It is a compelling, touching, thoroughly entertaining novel that will make you laugh and cry -- and leave you cheering for the winners.

STEPHEN GREENLEAF lives in Ashland, Oregon, with his wife and son. He is currently working on a new novel.

Jacket design by Wendy Bass

Stephen Greenleaf: The Ditto List. A Love Story About Divorce. Villard Books, ISBN: 0394541146 (February, 1985), 358 p., $16.95.