Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage (Unabridged)
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4.3 • 1.2K Ratings
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
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
FINALIST FOR THE NEW ENGLAND BOOK AWARD
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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This is one of the most emotionally intimate memoirs we’ve heard in ages. A week into the 2020 pandemic shutdowns, Belle Burden and her husband, James, were quarantining with their three children when a voicemail turned her world upside down. The caller was another woman’s husband, informing Belle that their spouses were having an affair—and his wife had just attempted suicide. Within days, Belle’s husband of two decades walked out on their family without remorse or explanation. She tells the story of her despair and eventual rebuilding without self-pity, even as she recounts her husband’s shocking coldness (which included rejecting even partial custody of their kids). We were moved by Belle’s devotion to her children and fascinated by her unflinching examination of a marriage she’d thought she understood. Narrating with warmth and hard-won wisdom, she makes every revelation feel deeply personal. Expanded from a viral 2023 New York Times Modern Love column, Strangers is a powerful memoir about heartbreak and self-discovery.
Customer Reviews
Very well written (accept the accolade)
I fluctuated between feeling sorry for her and finding her pathetic.
Her husband was a flawed human being, which had nothing to do with her.
There isn’t enough love on this planet for a woman not to be involved in the marital finances. Every woman needs to read this book, and understand, you need to protect yourself financially, no matter how much in love you are.
My recap of the book is, they both ultimately lost what they coveted the most. Her….her fantasy of romance and marriage. Him…the image, which he portrayed to the world. A lie of who he is as a man.
The ultimate twist, she reclaimed who she is, became a stronger, better woman, and mother, and found peace without a man. That’s her prize.
Him….I doubt he learned anything. Men like that, have too much money, to make them more of what they already are.
I’m looking forward to reading your next book. Please write one.
Wonderfully told
A tragedy told bravely. Thank you.
Haunting and Healing and Human
Outstanding. Beautifully written and movingly narrated by Ms. Burden. Raw, revelatory, recognizable, and relatable. A worthy read. Ms. Burden finds her voice and her calling.