Contemporary Novels That Explore Fractured Marriages

Curtis Sittenfeld is my go-to author when I want to read about the complexities between men and women in all their awkward, exciting, hilarious, and messy glory. This short story collection delivers all that and more.

In one story, a husband and wife are locked in a standoff during the pandemic over whether the wife is allowed to hug her ex. In another, a woman in a stale marriage is surprised by her attraction to a conservative self-help author who might not be following his own marriage advice. You’ll be cringing, laughing, and nodding as you read (maybe all at the same time).

Yejide and Akin, a couple in Nigeria, fell in love when they attended university together. Now they’ve been married for four years and Yejide is struggling to become pregnant in a culture that highly values children. So her in-laws bring home a woman to be Akin’s second wife, despite neither of them being interested in polygamy. In response, both Yejide and Akin make a series of rash decisions to preserve their now-vulnerable union.

Your heart will be in your throat as you read the consequences of their choices and what happens to their marriage.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Taylor Jenkins Reid delivers the story of a woman faced with an impossible choice between two men in this heartwrenching novel.

Emma and Jesse were newlyweds and fellow adventurers when Jesse disappeared in a helicopter ride over the ocean. With her husband presumed dead, Emma spends the next years grieving and trying to move on, including falling in love with an old friend, Sam, who becomes her fiancé. Then Jesse is discovered; he survived that fateful day, and he’s ready to reunite with his wife. But whose wife does Emma want to be?

Cora is the married mother of a young girl. But when she meets the equally-married Sam at a playdate, sparks fly. Are they going to have an affair? In this Sliding Doors-esque story, we see Cora and Sam pursue both paths, and witness what happens to their marriages, lives, and feelings as a result.

I love a book that makes you wonder what could have been if you’ve made different decisions, and this novel is a great thought-provoking pick to read along with your book club or best friend as you discuss Cora’s choices and their often-surprising outcomes.

Years after their divorce and subsequent marriages, Lucy Barton’s first husband, William, asks her to help him after a family secret is revealed. As she accompanies William to find the sister he never knew, Lucy reflects on their marriage, both the pleasure and pain she experienced and how their relationship is evolving. Above all, her reflections make us wonder how well we know anybody, even a spouse we’ve lived with for years.

If you’re new to Elizabeth Strout’s lovely prose and books set among an interconnected set of characters, this book about Lucy’s first marriage is a good one to dip your toes into.

College friends Cate, Hannah, and Lissa are now in their 30s and dealing with the complexities of marriage and romance. After giving birth, Cate is exhausted, questioning everything, and unable to tell her husband how she really feels. Hannah, meanwhile, is in a rough spot in her own marriage as she struggles with infertility. And Lissa, a single actress, encounters Hannah’s husband, Nathan, and wonders if she’s chosen the wrong path.

Watching how these women navigate their thorny romances, not to mention their strained relationships with one another, will keep you turning pages.