Unfortunately, since 2023, I’ve been reading fewer books throughout the years. I read over 100 books in 2022, but since then my list declined to just 28 in 2024. To give myself credits, the books I read in 2022 were quick reads and now I’ve begun to enjoy books that gave emotional depth. As my time shortened due to the pile of schoolwork, I wasn’t able to read for pleasure in my free time.
With all that to say, Strangers by Belle Burden was the most recent book that got me out of my book slump. It is a memoir that focuses on Burden’s journey navigating out of her twenty-year relationship. Burden did me a favor by intertwining her family background in the book; she is one of the descendants of the Vanderbilt family, and her maternal grandmother was Babe Paley – a renounced New York socialite. During quarantine of 2020, Burden received an unexpected message that claimed her husband of twenty years was cheating on her. This disbelief trailed with an abrupt announcement from her husband that he was leaving her, shattered the stable image of her marriage into piercing pieces of glass that can never be glued back.
The plot itself was provocative, yet, what made me glide through the book was Burden’s introspection of her emotions and decisions throughout the years. The memoir wasn’t intended to amuse the readers with the tale of a successful revenge, a villainous (I think he is) husband, or a wife who became a billionaire overnight. Burden, instead, gives her husband leeway and assumes the best of his interests. At times, Burden played the role of a detective trying to resolve her confusion of “what went wrong with the relationship” which evolved to “which parts of myself was lost.” Her introspection was raw and that made it relatable for all women regardless of their relationship status. I held her narrative fondly and naturally cheered when seeing her gradually open up again and regained confidence in hobbies such as writing.
Shamelessly (not always), I go into a rabbit hole trying to figure out public figures’ family tree. I appreciated how Burden doesn’t shy away from her privileges, especially when retelling stories of what she has seen as a pro bono immigration lawyer.
Memoirs hold a heavy weight for me; it feels like I’m conversing with the author more than just being the listener. I can’t help but be in awe of the strong women, like Burden, fighting their invisible wars daily.
