love is a very complicated thing, and the many books about affairs and other failings of the heart are a testament to this.
Once upon a time, a prince and princess would get married and live happily ever after. the end. but the endings are not so simple. marriage is complex. It is not the end but another beginning. one that leads to a life of beauty and interdependence but also vulnerability and disappointment.
You are reading: Fiction books about affairs
I have a confession to make: I get scared when a couple gets married, either at the beginning or in the middle of the book. When a couple is married and there are still more pages to read, it can be guaranteed that trouble is on the horizon and often comes in the form of an affair. While there are plenty of other marital problems authors could write about, affair books seem to be the most popular.
the reasons behind the affairs are multiple and not all of them mean the end of the marriage. in novels, the reader experiences a plethora of motivations and consequences. in nonfiction, readers learn how others have handled issues and are given tools to deal with them.
The following list features ten fiction books that explore the complicated nature of an extramarital affair. they explore its effects on the members involved from multiple points of view. This is followed by a list of nine nonfiction books on topics ranging from memoirs to self-help.
fiction books about love affairs
1. madame bovary by gustave flaubert
You can’t talk about love affairs without mentioning this classic. Madame Bovary is probably best known for her scene of an erotic nature, which provoked a moral outcry in 1857. You have probably studied it in your English modules on censorship. However, Madame Bovary continues to be admired as a very honest portrait of a woman bored by the banalities of provincial life and the devastating consequences of her feelings of being trapped.
2. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichieprobably one of adichie’s most popular books. This book poignantly talks about race, especially what it means to be black in America and the UK. but underneath the social commentary, this is a love story. is a love story between a man and a woman who are separated and who do not allow anything as trivial as marriage to come between getting back together.
3. conversations with friends by sally rooney
sally rooney’s sensational debut proves the freedom (and ignorance) of youth. this is not your average book of his about an adventure. what starts as an affair turns into a complicated polyamorous relationship in which neither party comes out unscathed.
4. an american marriage by tayari jones
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the winner of the 2019 women’s award is a narrative about issues that do not allow the reader to choose a side. or at least makes it very difficult. Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are on their way to living happily ever after until Roy is sentenced to serve time for a crime he didn’t commit. Celestial is forced to choose between putting her life on hold and waiting the years until Roy’s release or learning not only to survive but to thrive.
5. sula by toni morrison
sula is a story primarily about friendship, social norms for women, and how a few choices can make one woman a moral citizen and the other an outcast. the title character does not live her life according to the expectations of others and is despised by all the wives in her neighborhood. she lives unapologetically but she sleeps too much with a husband, with dire consequences.
6. the end of the matter by graham greene
You know it’s an adventure book when it has the word “subject” in the title. In Graham Greene’s classic, Maurice Bendrix recalls her passionate affair with Sarah Miles. Her reflections go through falling in love, hate, redemption.
7. the days of the abandonment of elena ferrante
the powerful bestseller about a woman whose mental health drastically deteriorates when her husband leaves her for a younger woman.
8. about the beauty of zadie smith
The third novel from the inimitable Zadie Smith is set on both sides of the Atlantic and explores family, marriage, where the political and personal intersect, and deception.
9. common people by diana evans
Set against the backdrop of President Obama’s victory, two couples find themselves on the verge of revolution or acceptance. Melissa and Michael deal with a new baby and redefine marital roles while Stephanie tries to get Damian to talk about her father’s death. when you can’t turn to your spouse, you look for someone else.
10. i’m having so much fun here without you by courtney maum
a love story in reverse. Failed monogamist Richard Haddon finally decides to put her adulterous ways behind him and win back the love of her life just as she discovers the full extent of her affairs.
non-fiction books about love affairs
1. infidelity: memoirs of ann pearlman
As a psychotherapist and bestselling author, Anne Pearlman thought she knew the secret to maintaining a monogamous marriage. that is, until she discovered her husband’s affair with a married woman. This gripping memoir tells of the devastating effects of extramarital affairs across three generations.
2. naked infidelity: why more women cheat by diane shader smith
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After hearing that 65% of married women cheat on their husbands, Diane Shader Smith decided to sit down with 150 women to try to find out why. undressing infidelity tells the stories of 12 women, from midwestern moms to manhattan executives, who chose to be unfaithful and why.
3. things I should have told my daughter: lies, lessons & amorous adventures of pearl cleage
Pearl Cleage’s gripping memoir reflects on her struggles to juggle marriage, politics and motherhood, and how her rise to riches as a writer alienated her from her husband, Michael Lomax.
4. The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity by Esther Perel
4. The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity by Esther Perelcouples therapist esther perel delves into the taboo subject of affairs and why they are a universal practice, even in the happiest of marriages. What can adventures tell us about the complexities of human relationships and love?
5. It’s Not Meant To Be Like This: Finding Unexpected Strength When Disappointments Leave You Shattered by lisa terkeurst
In this revealing and honest book, Lisa Terkeurst shares her most painful experiences and betrayals with the reader. Yet through it all, she encourages the reader to see how, in life’s worst trials, God remains faithful.
6. Cheating: Hope and Healing After Cheating by Gary Shriver, Mona Shriver
When you hear that one in four marriages is affected by affairs, it’s no wonder there are so many books about affairs. but is an affair the death sentence of a marriage? Gary and Mona Shriver went through the pain of infidelity and wrote this book while trying to save their marriage, hoping to help others as well.
7. the concubine’s sons: portrait of a divided family by denise chong
chong tells the true story of his grandmother, who was taken to the new world as the concubine of a man who left his wife and children behind in china, and how she discovered the existence of this whole other family years later.
8. A Beautiful and Terrible Thing: Jen Waite’s Memoir of Marriage and Betrayal
a suspicious email led jen waite to suspect that the man she had loved for years, the father of her daughter, was having an affair. Further investigation only revealed more lies and deception, revealing a man who had been living a lie for the last five years of her love affair.
9. warrior of love by glennon doyle melton
love warrior is the story of a marriage imploding on itself and the healing that comes with rebuilding and restoring to once again allow yourself the hope of falling in love.
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