A decades-long, seemingly rock-solid marriage suddenly falls apart during one hot Stockholm summer in this addictive domestic drama that marks the American debut of the #1 Swedish bestselling author Moa Herngren.

“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

Bea couldn’t be more excited to trade the stifling Stockholm summer heat for a 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.

What she soon learns will change her life forever: her kind, gentle pediatrician husband wants to leave her. While this seems like sudden insanity to Bea, for Niklas, it’s anything but.

Written with the warmth and empathy that have made her insightful, page-turning 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 domestic drama that deftly explores the complexities of modern marriage.

Translated from the Swedish by Alice Menzies