Strangers

A Memoir of Marriage

By: Belle Burden

Narrated by: Belle Burden

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.

Relatable for the Ghosted and divorced.

The story is like one that many of us have lived through, eerily so at times. The only thing I’ve found frustrating is that she never seemed angry enough to swear (which I guess was intentional so that she did not seem unhinged or crazy) ; her emotions were almost too in check. Also she never jokes about the irony or sees humor in what happens to her. I could not have gotten through a parallel tale without a substantial amount of humor. Otherwise a great book.

My story with better outcome

She wrote a description of my loss and feelings and articulated without over emoting. A manual for others to understand the profound loss of an unexpected divorce after a long term marriage

Beautiful and poignant memoir

Loved the even voice of the author telling such private details of love, marriage and loss. I listened with tears streaming down my face, and in the end was cheering for her for having the courage to tell her story. She is an excellent writer, I hope she puts the ghost of Greg away and continues with more!

Interesting Assessment of a Marriage

Overall interesting and keeps the listened glued at times. I felt brought into the story. At times it was difficult to show compassion due to the privileged life of the author.

Honest and real

I started listening and thought it would be difficult to relate or feel sympathy for a wealthy, Harvard educated woman and her family. Instead, she was so honest with raw emotion without pity that I couldn’t stop listening. She also dug into trying to understand why (even though it is not knowable) her husband left. She still spoke with care and sensitivity towards him. This book is about removing the veils we all live under for all the reasons to make us feel safe, but in the end we need to take responsibility and control of our lives. I will admit I feel disgust towards her husband who has all the money one would need and would use that power to try and control her. They were equal partners, yet he calculated the whole time to make sure she shared her wealth but he never did. So it did affirm my deep dislike for wealthy, white entitled men who think woman are meant to serve them and they can discard them when it suits them. The author is a better woman than I am because she worked through betrayal and financial cruelty to find her voice. I would say she came out (after difficult years) in a much better place and with full knowledge about who she is and who her friends are, not contingent on her wealth or status. I highly recommend this book.