Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage
4.6 | 15,982 ratings
Price: 13.99
Last update: 04-28-2026
Product details
- ASIN : B0F3WTJ9V2
- Publisher : The Dial Press
- Accessibility :
- Publication date : January 13, 2026
- Language : English
- File size : 1.9 MB
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 239 pages
- ISBN-13 : 978-0593733325
- Page Flip : Enabled
- Best Sellers Rank:#34 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Parenting & Relationships (Kindle Store)
- Women's Biographies
- Memoirs (Books)
- Customer Reviews:5.05.0 out of 5 stars(7)
Top reviews from the United States
- Gup33A feminist lens on a well-worn problem.It’s11am. I woke up at 3am and began to read Belle Burden’s beautiful book “Strangers.” It was so compelling that I read it, on and off, since I woke up at 3am.
So many thoughts….
First of all, I really think this is a must-read book for all women, and I say that as a happily married woman in a marriage 3 decades long. There is a lot of cautionary material, but that is not why I recommend it. For me, what struck me the most was the vein of feminism running through this and what happens to us when we absorb the lies women are told. The most obvious one is to stay silent and to cover men’s misdeeds. However, there is so much more to that. It’s about what women lose when we lose our agency and hand it over to another, as we are so often advised to do. (Ie trad wives!) To be clear, I don’t think you necessarily lose agency if you stay home. The agency of which I speak is broader. It’s what happens when the man makes the decisions, the man allocates the money, the man is out in the world and what that costs us in real life. The way Ms. Burden discovered herself is a tale unto itself. The chapter on how she dealt with her finances, a master class on the power of doing hard things.
I have spent a lot of time this morning trying to justify and or understand her husband’s position. I cannot.
It is one thing to leave a marriage, quite another to do so because of an affair, blindsiding a loyal spouse. To decide to toss aside a family, to rip apart the kids safety and sense of peace, *without giving it any kind of effort* is not valiant in any way. It’s SHAMEFUL. The way he opted out of parenting is truly indicative of his lack of empathy, and an insight into a shocking self absorbed psyche.
There are people who may overlook this about him but I am not one of them. I think what he did was cowardly, and deeply immature. While I can understand wanting to leave a long term marriage, I cannot undersatnd the manner in which he did it—-and there is just NEVER any excuse to cease parenting. The helicopter after informing the kids was, to me, the most shocking confirmation of what kind of a human being this is. One that is willing to destroy what took decades to build and the casualty fly away and let others deal with the mess. Yuck.
Similarly, I don’t know what kind of a woman enabled all this but she should be ashamed for the part she played. I am no prude, but cheating is dishonorable. I know maybe honor, ethics, and honesty are no longer in vogue, but that doesn’t make it any better.
I want to commend the writer and I hope she continues to evolve into the strong woman that is clearly within her… She has a fantastic voice and she spoke for so many of us who have been conditioned to lower our voices, mute our experiences, cover for others. I think that’s the primary gift of this book.
Finally, for anyone commenting on her financial status as a means to silence her (as they did in the Times review). CUT IT OUT. Men don’t sit around deserving who gets a voice; they all get a voice. Don’t police women’s voices and don’t try and silence them because they have not gone through a particular gauntlet. All experiences have merit. Moreover, there is something illustrative about someone who *literally had it all* and still decided to leave a woman and children hanging. There is not extra hardship to excuse away that which is inexcusable. No male ego humiliation complex we can point to as exculpatory.
Women bear the costs of children and family all the time and it’s about dang time we start owning our voices and our experiences when men don’t hold up their end of the bargain. Well done. - ANNIEMA compelling and poignant memoirI did not know much about this book (and now am seeing all the articles being published about it) and it is worth the praise! The author is a compelling writer who frames the dissolution of her marriage around the nesting of Ospreys outside of their home. During Covid, the family decamps to a house on Martha's Vineyard and it is there that her husband decides to end their marriage (this after her getting a phone call from a woman's husband letting her know that her husband is having an affair with his wife). I feel that she is being as fair as possible as she wrote this, and her ex-husband comes across as a selfish narcissist who gives up custody and visitation rights for his children (sorry if they are cramping your hedge fund bachelor lifestyle). He also was ruthless when it came to divorce court and I could not help but worry especially for the children whose dad basically walked away. Earlier in the book she writes about taking a creative writing seminar and a male student is just scathing about her writing, which prompted her to give up her dream of writing. I am so glad she took up the pen again because she is an incredible writer -- her descriptions are so exquisite and I could not put the book down. I am glad she is finally finding her own voice and not listening to the toxic males around her. I would read anything by this author so please write more!
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House/Dial Press for an ARC and I voluntarily left this review. - Amazon CustomerBrilliantly written. Unsparing and riveting.Brilliantly written book. I devoured it in one sitting, couldn't put it down. Such an honest book. You can't help but realize that this could happen to any one of us. How well do we really know the people we think we know? How much did we stick our heads in the sand just figuring everything was fine? Without really casting any aspersions on anyone but herself, it is clear that this guy is a total pig. He loved what she represented, and took advantage of her love for him. I could write reams about this but it really is a book everyone should read for themselves. Her writing is so special, I hope she continues and writes more books.
- EllenAn inside look at the end of a marriageAbsolutely loved this memoir and could not stop myself from consuming it in one sitting. It almost reads like a beautifully poetic literary fiction, so much so that I had to remind myself it actually is a memoir. This takes you from the day of the discovery through the dissolution of a marriage and what comes after. It is written so beautifully in a way that sets it apart from other memoirs. I felt like I actually walked this journey with the author the entire time. With vivid descriptions of her emotions in the aftermath of what happened, I was in my feels. There’s no wild salacious drama in this memoir which is what it makes it so relatable for so many of us.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. - Cory BeyerBeautiful memoirThank you to @netgalley and Random House for this ARC. Belle Burden and her husband are in the second week of COVID lockdown on Martha's Vineyard when she receives a text that her husband is having an affair with that man's wife. When caught, he promptly packs a bag and moves back to their Manhattan apartment leaving Belle and her children with a lot of questions. This beautiful memoir of her married and divorced life was so well written. #Strangers #BelleBurden #RandomHouse #Jan2026