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Belle Burden
Belle Burden is the author of Strangers, a gripping novel that explores the complexities of human connection. Her work often delves into the psychological depths of her characters, making for truly memorable reads.
Strangers
- Pages
- 256
- Published
- 2026
- Language
- English
Synopsis
In March 2020, Belle Burden was riding out the early pandemic with her family on Martha's Vineyard — building fires, drinking whisky sours, roasting chickens — when her husband of twenty years announced, without warning or explanation, that he was leaving. Almost overnight he became a man she hardly recognized.
Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage is Burden's account of what came after. She revisits the marriage in search of clues to who her husband really was, reckons with her own family history, and confronts the expectations placed on a woman in the face of betrayal. The discreet wife once nicknamed "Belle the Good" becomes someone braver and determined to use her voice.
A number-one New York Times bestseller, written with unflinching honesty about heartbreak and the refusal to give up on love.
Genres
Frequently asked questions
Is "James," the husband in Strangers, a real name?
No. "James" is a pseudonym Belle Burden uses for her ex-husband throughout the memoir; press coverage of the book has identified his real name as Henry Davis. Burden also changed other identifying details to protect her family's privacy.
Is Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage based on a true story?
Yes — it is a memoir, not a novel. Belle Burden first told a version of the story in a 2023 "Modern Love" column in The New York Times before expanding it into this book, which debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.
