This Is Not Your Fault

By: Courtney Maum

Narrated by: Lameece Issaq, Caroline McLaughlin, Jonathan Davis, James Fouhey, Frankie Corzo

Length: 1 hr and 2 mins

Publisher's Summary

From acclaimed author Courtney Maum, a short story about a couple in the throes of divorce during COVID-19 that will remind listeners of the heartfelt humor and acuity of her critically acclaimed and beloved debut novel, I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You.  

Hal Beekman is exhausted. With all of his energy devoted to his real estate developments, he doesn’t have the bandwidth to figure out why his wife is sad. As for Stacey Beekman, a transplanted Midwesterner with divorce-whisperer friends, the only solution for a husband who doesn’t desire her is to find a second husband who does. But with Stacey left alone in a new house to parent her tech-addicted children and Hank isolated in a Greenwich McMansion that neither of them ever loved, COVID-19 has surprises in store for the Beekmans, including the realization that they might be making a mistake.  

Alternating between the husband and wife’s legal paperwork and co-parenting forms - braided with desperate missives from overeager lawyers - Maum’s portrait of a strained marriage in an unprecedented time - like quarantine life itself - is a powerful reminder about what we really hold dear.   

©2020 Courtney Maum (P)2020 Audible Originals, LLC.

story issues

I'm not sure why I needed to hear the date and time and email address of each character every 2-5 minutes. it was lacking in depth and was more of an introduction to a story than a story on its own

What can I say except for Sad and depressing

Very depressing story with an attempt at a somewhat Hopeful ending To me it's a very sad look on life

Love story

I really enjoyed this story about a marriage gone off the rails in the middle of pandemic. I especially liked that it seemed hopeful at the end. It was unexpectedly funny in many spots too.

Whoop, whoop-fall off a cliff

I enjoyed the story however the ending seemed abrupt. As if the author didn’t know how to end it and it sort of just fell off a cliff. It was a decent story overall.

Divorce...Is It Over

Just as in real life do decisions really come so easily? And with C-19 will Anything Ever Be Normal again? Is marriage the challenge or divorce the true test? And what if you Really Don't Know?? Just when you think you "Really Have It All" ..... is this all there is???

Seriously first world problems

I cannot even imagine living a life like this and then whine about it. Get over yourselves.

Ends before begins

Not sure what the draw of audible’s recent theme is with these short stories that end before they begin or start in the middle go back and then leave you hanging. The performances are solid it would be better if they had a full story to tell. I just think with the storytelling and voice talent they have this could go another 20min and go full circle. Also the reading of email to/from/title and time is annoying and a theme of several Originals titles

So good. Want more.

What a great story well written and completely up to minute involving pandemic issues and all that entails. So well done by the narrators. Touching and funny. Just Perfect.

Nuanced Divorce Whodunit

Having never seen a divorce in the wild, I’d always assumed that it was like murder - someone’s guilty. Although this story is a mystery in that it slowly reveals the why behind a divorce, Maum’s treatment of the subject is light footed - this is not about fault. Rather, it’s an interesting and unusual exploration of what we do when when we don’t know what we want and how what we want changes when we aren’t listening to other voices. I think the story touches on how people are changing with the pandemic. In the lessened noise, many are reassessing the material and romantic paths they chose in a noisier time and are starting to wonder whether they still want to follow those paths now that they find themselves alone, in the quiet (cleverly, this is an epistolary - no one ever actually manages to speak directly with each other).

A lot of content for a short story! Very enjoyable listen. I recommend this for readers who enjoy subtle, character driven stories.

Courtney Maum Hits a home run!

Quick, clever and well drawn characters. So funny!
This is by far my favorite thing you have written! Thanks Courtney, I loved it! 5 stars baby!

erm .. I'm not even sure what to say?

it was like the author just decided to stop writing half way through a story. I love short stories but they still need an ending.

the whole thing was just people whining about their divorce, their house being too big and them not having enough sex. I'm not really sure what the point was? it was funny, it wasn't terrible, it just didn't really give much of anything