The empowering, must-read memoir of the end of a marriage and the start of a personal revolution, perfect for readers of Glennon Doyle and Miranda July.
How do we go on when a loved one betrays us?
On a chilly day in March of 2020, in the early days of the pandemic, Belle Burden’s husband of twenty years announced, with no prior warning, that he was leaving her.
His decision shocked Belle to her core: she believed he was a happy man, a committed partner, and a devoted father to their three children. She thought he was a man who had settled into the life he had always wanted: a successful career, summers spent at their beloved home on Martha’s Vineyard, lots of tennis.
Overnight, he transformed from her steady companion into a stranger.
As she pieces her life together in the wake of a loss she had never imagined coming, she finds she is much stronger than she ever expected. Belle reflects on her transformation from a shy, quiet girl, nicknamed ‘Belle the Good’ to a powerful, brave, determined woman. A woman who has learned to use her voice to expose the patriarchal structures that have forced women to be discreet and compliant for far too long.
Based on Belle’s popular ‘Modern Love’ essay, Was I Married to a Stranger?, this is the emotional and empowering memoir of self-discovery and what it means to finally be heard.
Published January 13, 2026