Overview

INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Burden’s searing, probing memoir explores . . . what she learned about intimacy and her own spirit.”—People​​ “A beautifully written instant classic. Strangers is gripping and heartbreaking and a must-read for every wife—and husband.”—Graydon Carter “Asks us to examine life’s most perplexing questions: Can we see the invisible fault lines in a marriage or truly know the people closest to us?”—Lori Gottlieb It was a great love story, one for the ages. The speed of our beginning and the speed of our ending felt like matching bookends. They both came out of nowhere. He wanted it, he wanted me. And then he didn’t. In March 2020, Belle Burden was safe and secure with her family at their house on Martha’s Vineyard, navigating the early days of the pandemic together—building fires in the late afternoons, drinking whisky sours, making roast chicken. Then, with no warning or explanation, her husband of twenty years announced that he was leaving her. Overnight, her caring, steady partner became a man she hardly recognized. He exited his life with her like an actor shrugging off a costume. In Strangers, Burden revisits her marriage, searching for clues that her husband was not who she always thought he was. As she examines her relationship through a new lens, she reckons with her own family history and the lessons she intuited about how a woman is expected to behave in the face of betrayal. Through all of it, she is transformed. The discreet, compliant woman she once was—someone nicknamed “Belle the Good”—gives way to someone braver, someone determined to use her voice. With unflinching honesty and profound grace, Burden charts a path through heartbreak to show the power of a woman who refuses to give up on love. Strangers is a stunning, deeply moving, compulsively readable memoir heralding the arrival of a thrilling new literary talent.

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9780593733318

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Reviews

“Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage, is a beautifully written eulogy for the loss of a relationship that had been loving, trusting, ‘traditional’ (in the best, unironic sense of the word)—riveting reading for its heartrending candor. Through an examination of her marriage—and the social expectations that defined it—Belle Burden examines the very nature of intimacy, vulnerability, and, in practical terms, the naïveté of many a young woman who falls in love with a 'perfect' mate. Her questions are not just, What went wrong? But, more fundamentally, What is the nature of human personality? Are we all playing ‘roles?’”—Joyce Carol Oates “A searing exploration of rebuilding after profound loss. With candor, Belle Burden navigates heartbreak in a way that reshapes rather than restores, crafting a future both unrecognizable and wholly her own. More than a memoir of divorce, it is a powerful testament to reclaiming voice, power, and joy. Burden’s journey speaks to anyone broken by the unimaginable and courageous enough to forge a new beginning.”—Adrienne Brodeur, New York Times bestselling author of Wild Game “A lyrical and gripping tale of the abrupt end of a seemingly solid and loving marriage. I read Strangers in one weekend. Beyond Burden’s beautiful writing and shocking story, it is a call to feminism. She reminds us: Don’t fall asleep at the wheel, be self-sustaining, stake a claim in what’s yours. Strangers is a woman’s graceful awakening—and one to learn from.”—Isabel Gillies, New York Times bestselling author of Happens Every Day

“Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage, is a beautifully written eulogy for the loss of a relationship that had been loving, trusting, ‘traditional’ (in the best, unironic sense of the word)—riveting reading for its heartrending candor. Through an examination of her marriage—and the social expectations that defined it—Belle Burden examines the very nature of intimacy, vulnerability, and, in practical terms, the naïveté of many a young woman who falls in love with a 'perfect' mate. Her questions are not just, What went wrong? But, more fundamentally, What is the nature of human personality? Are we all playing ‘roles?’”—Joyce Carol Oates “As you read Strangers, you'll find yourself asking big questions: Why would a devoted father walk out on his family? What were the signs? How do I prevent this from happening to me? Burden shows that we cannot always understand why people do what they do and that we can learn to live tethered to our own truth instead. This is a beautiful memoir: Hard-won, incandescently honest, and ultimately affirming.”—Elise Loehnen, New York Times bestselling author of On Our Best Behavior “A beautifully written instant classic. Strangers is gripping and heartbreaking and a must-read for every wife—and husband.”—Graydon Carter, New York Times bestselling author of When the Going Was Good “A searing exploration of rebuilding after profound loss. With candor, Belle Burden navigates heartbreak in a way that reshapes rather than restores, crafting a future both unrecognizable and wholly her own. More than a memoir of divorce, it is a powerful testament to reclaiming voice, power, and joy. Burden’s journey speaks to anyone broken by the unimaginable and courageous enough to forge a new beginning.”—Adrienne Brodeur, New York Times bestselling author of Wild Game “A lyrical and gripping tale of the abrupt end of a seemingly solid and loving marriage. I read Strangers in one weekend. Beyond Burden’s beautiful writing and shocking story, it is a call to feminism. She reminds us: Don’t fall asleep at the wheel, be self-sustaining, stake a claim in what’s yours. Strangers is a woman’s graceful awakening—and one to learn from.”—Isabel Gillies, New York Times bestselling author of Happens Every Day

Author Information

Belle Burden holds a BA from Harvard College and a law degree from the New York University School of Law. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times. She lives with her children in New York City.

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