12 Divorce Books That Are Messy, Addictive, and Weirdly Healing
Novels and memoirs about marriages falling apart are having a moment.
When you're looking to get lost in a book, sometimes you need your reading material to match your mood. With Marie Claire's series "Buy the Book," we do the heavy lifting for you. We're offering curated, highly specific recommendations for whatever you're looking for—whether you're in your feels or hooked on a subgenre trending on #BookTok.
The national divorce rate might be down, but you’d never know it. From TikTokers confronting their cheating partners and Bravolebrity breakups setting the internet on fire, divorce seems to be en vogue these days. Despite the fever-pitch that celebrity drama garners, break-ups certainly aren't reserved for the elite. In fact, commitment, divorce, and separation might be some of the most common topics bubbling up in your group chat—which may be daunting or comforting, depending on your sitch.
Like everybody else, authors aren’t immune to the spectacle or shock of divorce, either. As such, they’ve been recording the hideous and heart-wrenching details of marital collapse for years—nay, centuries (looking at you, Henry James). But recently, a crop of new books has pushed the subject into the heart of conversations and is, in the words of Bethenny Frankel, "mentioning it all." Whether these divorce books mine personal history or imagine fictional scenarios, many have shot to the top of best-seller lists, as readers can't seem to get enough of learning about what goes down when people part ways.
From thrillers about the divorce from Hell to hilariously unhinged novels and memoirs that require multiple boxes of tissues, these divorce books totally qualify as must-read material. Below, check out some of the best divorce books to add to your TBR.
In 2020, Jen Hatmaker had the shock of her life. In the middle of the night, she awoke to her husband, Brandon, messaging another woman he was having an affair with. Co-founders and prominent figures of Austin New Church in Texas, news of the couple's divorce incited waves of criticism.
Adrift, Hatmaker took a hard look at her life, her role in her marriage’s failure, and the values of her faith. After much reflection, remorse, and growth, Hatmaker vowed not to be a bystander in the second half of her life. What’s more, she became a staunch supporter of queer rights, pro-choice advocacy and racial equality, further distancing herself from her former congregation—and the evangelical community. Learning how to trust herself and say “yes” to opportunity, Hatmaker proves much can be gained after you lose it all.
This one goes out to anyone who has lost themselves in a relationship. Cherry has only wanted the best for her husband, Tom. She even encouraged him to pursue his comic, Thursday, which features Baby, a character so like Cherry it’s unmissable. Now, as Thursday reaches new heights by becoming a movie, Tom coasts on a high from newfound fame in L.A., while Cherry is home in Omaha, taking care of his dog and spectating at his success from afar.
When the movie trailer drops, featuring a less-than-flattering portrayal of Baby, Cherry struggles to keep a low profile in their hometown, while wrestling with her marriage becoming a dumpster fire. But then she meets Russ, who slowly helps her remember who she is. Big-hearted and tender, Cherry Baby is a loving reminder that divorce is just the end of one chapter—there’s hope (and really good sex) in the ones ahead.
Transwoman Reese used to think her girlfriend Amy was endgame. But then came betrayal…and a baby. Reese is shellshocked (and a little pissed) when Amy decides to detransition and become Ames. As a result, they split up, tossing Reese’s hopes for the future in the garbage. Adhering to the long-respected adage, Reese attempts to get over her ex by getting under someone new. Often. Meanwhile, Ames is getting to know himself—and building a new relationship with his boss, Katrina.
When Katrina reveals she’s pregnant and unsure about motherhood, Ames reaches out to the only person he can trust, Reese. Arguably one of the messiest love triangles to grace the pages of a novel, Reese, Ames, and Katrina stumble toward understanding themselves, one another, and what family can mean when you let go of convention. Read this if you need a reminder that change isn't necessarily catastrophic.
Earning significant buzz when it first came out in 2023, Good Material introduces readers to broken-hearted Andy, who’s reeling from his recent breakup with Jen. Bereft, he flails through London, attempting to recover. From living on a houseboat to revving up his stand-up routine, Andy isn’t afraid to put it all out there for the sake of moving on (which would be much easier if their mutual friends would stop telling him about Jen’s glow-up).
As Andy trudges through the horror that is singlehood in the modern age, readers watch as he slowly emerges from his misery—just in time for a surprise twist that turns the whole plot on its head. Fans of HBO's Rooster, Bridget Jones’s Diary, and any '90s rom-coms featuring Hugh Grant will relish in Alderton’s sharp wit and endearing characters.
If writing a thinly veiled novel about your cheating husband isn’t cathartic, we don’t know what is. Rom-com aficionado Nora Ephron took inspiration from her marriage—and divorce—to journalist Carl Bernstein with Heartburn. The novel follows Rachel, a cookbook author who’s seven months pregnant, as she discovers (via a worryingly intimate inscription in a book!) that her husband, Mark, is having an affair with Thelma.
Leaving their house in D.C. to return home to Manhattan, Rachel is confronted with how common infidelity is. But after a harrowing experience during group therapy, Rachel goes back to D.C. to see if the marriage can be salvaged. Once there, she’s met with the reality of how serious Mark is about Thelma—leading her to grapple with the difficult truth of leaving someone you love(d) and what it’s like to start anew, especially as a single parent.
Perfect if you love Ephron’s movies (When Harry Met Sally...., Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, etc.) or authors like Emily Henry or Abby Jimenez, Ephron’s novel will have you laughing on one page and sobbing on the next. (That’s a good thing.)
"If you weren’t laughing, you’d be crying" might be a decent subtitle for this humming debut. A tragicomedy if there ever was one, the unnamed narrator, a Chinese-American woman, is finding her footing after learning her husband is having an affair with a woman named Maggie. That is, until she discovers her breast pain is more serious than she thought: It’s cancer. She names the tumor Maggie.
Katie Yee's moving novel follows the narrator as she works through her recovery from cancer, her husband’s betrayal, and the end of her marriage. While she longs to wallow, she has children to care for, groceries to buy, and schoolwork to help with. Life goes on. But somewhere in the mundanity, she begins to reclaim her heritage and pass it down to her children. Once locked in a power struggle with her husband over bedtime, the narrator now has the freedom to tell her children Chinese folktales, as her mother did for her. Beautifully woven throughout the novel, these stories invoke a timelessness that reaches beyond the narrator, reminding readers that stories can persist through the most difficult struggles.
If you’ve ever lurked on an ex’s Instagram or obsessed over how a relationship fell apart, Notes on Heartbreak might be for you. To grasp how she missed the downfall of her long-term partnership, Annie Lord looks back in this memoir, beginning with the end of her relationship. From there, Lord picks her way through the past, searching for warning signs that the relationship was doomed.
As she tries to find the writing on the wall, she recounts the absurdity of dating apps, random hookups, and generally being single in a world of motivational memes. Meanwhile, her ex haunts her on social media, posting as if unfettered by heartbreak. Lord, as you can guess, is very fettered by heartbreak.
Throughout the memoir, Lord takes a hard look at how, increasingly, people are less willing to be vulnerable when dating. This stays with her as she begins to understand and appreciate the other side of heartbreak: that she's hurt because she took a risk. That she leapt into love without a net, enabling her to experience deep care and connection, if only for a time. Read this if you still crash out to the '90s Romeo + Juliet soundtrack (which is totally worth revisiting, if not).
Bringing new meaning to “Till death do us part,” The Perfect Divorce is the follow-up to Jeneva Rose’s wildly popular thriller, The Perfect Marriage. Readers meet Sarah 11 years after defending her ex-husband, Adam, against charges of murdering his mistress (yeah, you read that right). Now, happily married to Bob, Sarah believes the drama is behind her. Then she discovers Bob is having an affair, leading her to file for divorce.
As if working through an increasingly heated divorce wasn't enough on her plate, Sarah learns that Adam’s case has been reopened, bringing an irritating detective back to her world. But that's not all: The woman Bob was hooking up with disappears. Unfolding across Bob and Sarah’s perspectives, The Perfect Divorce definitely belongs in your travel bag this season.
From literary giant Jamaica Kincaid comes an intense story of a marriage on the cusp of collapse. Told through a lyrical stream of consciousness, readers get a front row seat to Mr. and Mrs. Sweet’s marriage. While Mrs. Sweet is busy caring for their children, running the house, and generally ensuring the family’s life runs smoothly, Mr. Sweet harbors absolute contempt for his wife. As the book progresses, tension thickens to the point you could crack it with a hammer.
Unique, unsparing, and experimental, See Now Then is another banger from Kincaid. For those looking to broaden their reading scope, engage with a hearty yet slim novel, or check out work from one of the best in the game, See Now Then depicts the pain and unease that comes when your relationship is on the verge of crumbling.
This novel sounds like the setup of a joke: A private investigator, undercover vigilante, and housewife walk into a dog park. Fortunate for us, author Camille Perri didn’t stop there, delivering a zinger of a novel. Set in the well-heeled D.C. suburbs, Val, the P.I. in the book’s holy trinity, has been hired by a man to determine if his wife, June, is cheating on him. June, meanwhile, has little idea her husband is high-key spying on her—and only a hunch he could be, like, a full-blown jerk.
Obsessed with her dog, June is a regular at Hamilton Dog Park, where prosecutors, lobbyists and stay-at-home dog moms share in the delight of a solid poop (IYKYK). So when newbie Val arrives with a scruffy terrier, Cash (who Val may have adopted for the job), June rolls out the red carpet, appointing herself as head of the welcoming committee. But there isn’t just one fresh face at the dog park that day. Upon leaving the dog park, June encounters Alex, a woman grieving the dog she lost in an ugly divorce. June takes the distraught divorcée under her wing (paw?), encouraging her to consider getting a new pup. As the three get acquainted, Val and the divorcée become suspicious of each other, wondering what they’re hiding.
While the story crests over peaks of unhinged chaos, the plot is full of heart. Proving that sometimes, all you need are a couple of friends (and maybe a dog or three) to find your pack.
Divorce doesn’t define you. To prove this, Leslie Jamison unspools a striking memoir about motherhood, creativity, and, sure, some marriage, too. After an intense relationship with C., she agrees to marry him. But possibly not for the right—or at least traditional—reasons. Rather, she wants to commit to something to quell her wild ways. The marriage devolves.
With sharp precision and compact sentences that pack a punch, Jamison revisits her childhood and crucial moments from her past that led her to marry C. In possession of inscrutable self-awareness, Jamison braids together her personal history and vision for the future. Ideal for someone fresh out of a marriage, new parents, or anyone else curious about how culture and childhood shape us and our relationships, Splinters zooms out to invite readers to look at the full picture.
Whew, does Belle Burden have a story to tell. It’s so insane you might not believe it’s real (but it is). Burden, a New York socialite, had been happily married to James (not his real name) for over 20 years. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the couple and two of their children decamped to their home on Martha’s Vineyard. While navigating new safety measures and the wonkiness of remote work and school, Burden and her husband tackle each new hurdle as a team. But one night, Burden receives a phone call that changes everything: It’s the husband of the woman who’s having an affair with James.
From there, things only get stranger. After declaring he still loves Belle that night, the next morning, she wakes up to James standing in their bedroom doorway to inform her that he’s changed his mind. He’s leaving and doesn’t want their properties or custody of their kids, effectively severing ties with their family. From there, readers follow Belle while she confronts her new reality, navigates truly mind-boggling exchanges with her now-ex, and steps into the role as her children's sole caregiver.
While incredibly privileged, readers may relate to the dizzying whirlwind caused by a harsh ending. A whiz of a read (I devoured it in one sitting!), Strangers tells the true story of one woman’s unwanted journey into finding herself amidst the rubble of her past life.
