Et cetera : What We're Reading: Strangers

Have you ever read something that captured the most painful moment of your life?

There was a time when I thought divorce was worse than death. When the person you loved and trusted most suddenly deletes you entirely from their life and goes on to live happily ever after without you, it feels like a fate worse than dying. A wound that never heals. You know a death has occurred, but there is no body to bury.

'Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage' by Belle Burden is the first book I’ve ever read that truly captured this kind of devastating heartache—the falling in love, the building of a family, the flourishing inside a nest of warmth and belonging, only to wake up one day cast out into the cold, without warning. I’m not typically a fan of nonfiction outside of poetry, but this book may now be one of my favorites of all time.

I recommend it to anyone married, partnered, or in love.

I recommend it to anyone who has suffered heartbreak.

I recommend it to anyone who has found themselves unable to get out of bed.

I recommend it to anyone afraid to fall in love.

Happy reading, friends.

~ Heather