Strangers

A Memoir of Marriage

De: Belle Burden

Narrado por: 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.

Brutal honesty

I loved that she chose herself and her own need to heal over being discreet on behalf of her husband. She did it carefully and respectfully, setting an example for her children about living in reality.

Heartbreaking and Hopeful

Divorce was the trauma of my life and I loved being married and was never bored staying home with my children, This memoir is so bravely written, I listened to it in one sitting. She’s honest about her flaws and generous in spirit re: husband, What a jerk. She’s got talent! Plus her background is right out of NYC wealth and social cachet.

Wonderful writer

Extreme attempt by author to think everything through and giA ve her honest evaluation of what happened.

I Couldn’t Stop Listening!

Marvelously written and astonishingly heartbreaking. Kudos to Ms. Burden for her courage, honesty, and skill.

Honesty integrity courage

The writer’s authenticity and courage to speak her truth is very inspiring! Her emotionally disabled ex caused her to question herself what she could have done to make him stay but through soul searching and cracking open from the traumatic experience she was able to rise from the ashes! Thank you for your courage!