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Face Down: A Novel of Marriage, Betrayal, and What Remains
Some things you notice and file away. A phone, always placed face down. A husband
who steps into the garage to take his calls. Small things. The kind you don't let
yourself name.
When Nora Callahan picks up her husband's phone one ordinary Wednesday morning —
face down on the nightstand, the way it always is — she reads something she cannot
unread. What she discovers will unravel not just her marriage but her oldest
friendship, leaving her seven months pregnant, without an income, and more alone than
she has ever been.
She does not fall apart. She makes a list.
Methodical and clear-eyed, Nora begins to piece together exactly what was done to
her — and by whom. As her father's health fades and her due date approaches, she
builds a case, finds a lawyer, and starts to ask questions she should have asked years
about the life she quietly built around other people, the art practice she let go
silent, and what, underneath everything, has always been hers.
Face Down is a novel about the small betrayals that precede the large ones —
about marriage and grief, about the friendships that define us and the ones that break
us, and about a woman who decides, in the wreckage of everything she trusted, to find
out what she is made of.
Perfect for readers of Celeste Ng, Lisa Jewell, Liane Moriarty, and
Jodi Picoult.
who steps into the garage to take his calls. Small things. The kind you don't let
yourself name.
When Nora Callahan picks up her husband's phone one ordinary Wednesday morning —
face down on the nightstand, the way it always is — she reads something she cannot
unread. What she discovers will unravel not just her marriage but her oldest
friendship, leaving her seven months pregnant, without an income, and more alone than
she has ever been.
She does not fall apart. She makes a list.
Methodical and clear-eyed, Nora begins to piece together exactly what was done to
her — and by whom. As her father's health fades and her due date approaches, she
builds a case, finds a lawyer, and starts to ask questions she should have asked years
about the life she quietly built around other people, the art practice she let go
silent, and what, underneath everything, has always been hers.
Face Down is a novel about the small betrayals that precede the large ones —
about marriage and grief, about the friendships that define us and the ones that break
us, and about a woman who decides, in the wreckage of everything she trusted, to find
out what she is made of.
Perfect for readers of Celeste Ng, Lisa Jewell, Liane Moriarty, and
Jodi Picoult.
218 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 18, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 13, 2026
Forensic timeline of a marriage collapse
This was a very good read.
Nora is married to Marcus. They have 2 children with one on the way. Simone is Nora’s best friend of 28 years….
It was a mobile phone message that started the questioning and quiet collapse.
Nora didn’t just suffer her spouse betraying her, but also her best friend. She lost 2 people that she relied on. The affair affected everyone that was connected.
The justifications used by the betrayers were eye raising. They obviously tried to paint emotional distance, lack of presence or care as their reasons for why. They failed to include coping with the reality of an aging parent and pregnancy.
I do like a strong FMC and Nora fit the bill.
This was a very good read.
Nora is married to Marcus. They have 2 children with one on the way. Simone is Nora’s best friend of 28 years….
It was a mobile phone message that started the questioning and quiet collapse.
Nora didn’t just suffer her spouse betraying her, but also her best friend. She lost 2 people that she relied on. The affair affected everyone that was connected.
The justifications used by the betrayers were eye raising. They obviously tried to paint emotional distance, lack of presence or care as their reasons for why. They failed to include coping with the reality of an aging parent and pregnancy.
I do like a strong FMC and Nora fit the bill.
July 17, 2026
read before
Ok so I’ve read this story before a couple of years ago on a Reddit thread. It was posted by someone who was looking for support because they’d found out that the husband was cheating with the best friend.They were also six months pregnant at the time and their father had a terminal cancer diagnosis. The only difference here is the characters are more polished. In the Reddit post they were blue collar .In the Reddit post there were lots of updates. The best friend got pregnant but lost the baby and went on a downward spiral and ultimately ended up loosing her life . The married couple divorced and he moved to another state and had no contact with his children. He did have a brother who actually supported the op and they ended up in a relationship and had a child . Everything else is exactly the same the father’s dementia and subsequent death . I don’t know if the Reddit post was fiction and this was written by the same author. But at the very least there should be some acknowledgment that this story has been published before?
Ok so I’ve read this story before a couple of years ago on a Reddit thread. It was posted by someone who was looking for support because they’d found out that the husband was cheating with the best friend.They were also six months pregnant at the time and their father had a terminal cancer diagnosis. The only difference here is the characters are more polished. In the Reddit post they were blue collar .In the Reddit post there were lots of updates. The best friend got pregnant but lost the baby and went on a downward spiral and ultimately ended up loosing her life . The married couple divorced and he moved to another state and had no contact with his children. He did have a brother who actually supported the op and they ended up in a relationship and had a child . Everything else is exactly the same the father’s dementia and subsequent death . I don’t know if the Reddit post was fiction and this was written by the same author. But at the very least there should be some acknowledgment that this story has been published before?
April 18, 2026
robot characters with no emotion
This was indeed the weirdest book. Not any real detail about the affair etc. Lots of long sentences that have no role in the sort. But the biggest reason for the one star rating is there are NO EMOTIONS. Not the betrayed wife, the mistress or the husband. Not a single one.
This was indeed the weirdest book. Not any real detail about the affair etc. Lots of long sentences that have no role in the sort. But the biggest reason for the one star rating is there are NO EMOTIONS. Not the betrayed wife, the mistress or the husband. Not a single one.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews