The Divorce

A Novel

By: Moa Herngren

Narrated by: Sofia Engstrand, Cameron Krogh Stone

An addictive domestic drama set during one hot Stockholm summer that marks the American debut of #1 Swedish bestselling author Moa Herngren.

“The collapse of a thirty-two-year marriage is depicted with an even hand in this book, which amounts to two parallel novels: one about a woman 'feverish with confusion,' who feels that she was abandoned without warning, and another about a man who has been grappling with the end of his relationship for months. . . . As Herngren stitches together the couple’s perspectives, she writes with a sharp neutrality, never overplaying the book’s many tense moments of discovery or languishing in the wife’s despair.”—The New Yorker

There are two sides to every story . . .

Bea couldn't be more excited to trade the stifling Stockholm summer heat for vacation on Gotland Island. She’s looking forward to spending quality time with her beloved husband of thirty-two years, Niklas, and their two moody teenage daughters, and recuperating from the stress of daily life in the company of her beloved in-laws. One night shortly before their departure, Bea and Niklas have a seemingly mundane argument over a trivial issue, and Niklas goes out with a friend to blow off steam. As the hours pass, Niklas doesn’t come home, and Bea’s irritation soon gives way to panic as she imagines what kind of disaster might have happened to delay his return.

What she soon learns will change her life forever: while her husband is fine, their marriage is not. Her kind, gentle pediatrician husband wants to leave her. But while this might seem like sudden insanity to Bea, for Niklas, it’s anything but…

Written with the warmth and empathy that have made her insightful, binge-worthy family novels bestsellers in her native Sweden, Moa Herngren raises thoughtful questions about why relationships fall apart: Is the person who leaves always the bad guy? What emerges once you begin scratching the surface of what seems like a clear-cut situation? Told from dual perspectives, The Divorce is a gripping novel that deftly explores the complexities of modern marriage.

Translated from the Swedish by Alice Menzies

©2024 Moa Herngren (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

Saddest book I’ve ever read

I’ve never felt so emotional reading/listening to a book in my life. This is what I took from this book: communication is the most important thing in a marriage; belittling your spouse is not ok; leaving your wife without an explanation for months and months and months and actually never, he never sat with his wife and explained that her belittling, her expectations, her not understanding his wants and needs lead to how this transpired; how already having another partner waiting in the wings made his departure easier or even possible; don’t lose your mind or yourself when your spouse leaves you -be there for your children instead; don’t lose sight of yourself, of your own separate wants and needs; go to a marriage counselor before it gets to the point where these two were; don’t read these types of books if you fall apart when the couple doesn’t end up working things out in the end. I cringed listening to Bea talk to her husband in such an ugly manner -she needed to work on not being like that with her husband; to not worry about appearances so much; to be loving to her husband who seemed a little lost at times and just did what she told him. He needed to tell his wife of 32 years how he felt, not just say he wanted to change careers -this really required a heart to heart conversation; and don’t just walk out on your wife, your kids, your family without explanation, without counseling, and don’t humiliate your wife already having another women which comes right down to this guy being a total a hole -the humiliation, the pain, the emptiness and loneliness his wife experienced were half her fault and half his but he was the one who was a s hit with how he went about discovering himself. I hope Bea moves on with her life, I hope she realizes her role in the breakup of her marriage, I hope she meets someone she can be kinder to, or not meet someone if that is what she wants, but most of all I hope she doesn’t talk or even look at her ex husband again be wise he is truly weak and heartless. The end.