This Is Not Your Fault

by Courtney Maum, Lameece Issaq (Narrator), Caroline McLaughlin (Narrator)

From acclaimed author Courtney Maum, a short story about a couple in the throes of divorce during COVID-19 that will remind listeners of the heartfelt humor and acuity of her critically acclaimed and beloved debut novel, I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You.

Hal Beekman is exhausted. With all of his energy devoted to his real estate developments, he doesn’t have the bandwidth to figure out why his wife is sad. As for Stacey Beekman, a transplanted Midwesterner with divorce-whisperer friends, the only solution for a husband who doesn’t desire her is to find a second husband who does. But with Stacey left alone in a new house to parent her tech-addicted children and Hank isolated in a Greenwich McMansion that neither of them ever loved, COVID-19 has surprises in store for the Beekmans, including the realization that they might be making a mistake.

Alternating between the husband and wife’s legal paperwork and co-parenting forms - braided with desperate missives from overeager lawyers - Maum’s portrait of a strained marriage in an unprecedented time - like quarantine life itself - is a powerful reminder about what we really hold dear.




RUNNING TIME ➽ 1hr. and 2mins.

©2020 Courtney Maum (P)2020 Audible Originals, LLC.

Genres: Audiobook, Fiction, Short Stories

Audible Audio

First published August 31, 2020

About the author

Courtney Maum is the author of the novels Costalegre (a GOOP book club pick and one of Glamour Magazine’s top books of the decade), I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You and Touch (a New York Times Editor’s Choice and NPR Best Book of the Year selection), and the handbook Before and After the Book Deal: A writer’s guide to finishing, publishing, promoting, and surviving your first book, out now from Catapult. Her writing has been widely published in such outlets as the New York Times, O, the Oprah Magazine, and Poets & Writers. She is the founder of the collaborative retreat program, The Cabins, and she also has a writing-advice newsletter, “Get Published, Stay Published,” that you can sign up for at CourtneyMaum.com

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A realistic he said/she said as a couple go through the divorce process during the COVID-19 crisis.

Having enjoyed Courtney Maum's "I AM Having So Much Fun Here Without You", I certainly loved this short story. Maum definitely has a gift for making her characters so relatable.


1 hr 2mins

Goodreads review published 30/09/20

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a super quick audio. I ran a 5K this morning, and I needed something that was just an hour. I ran for exactly 50 minutes, and then spent the next 11 panting and finishing the story. Which ended exactly as I expected it to.

Three stars. What can I say? Written in epistolary form, this is about a couple doing their paperwork for divorce, and reflecting upon what got them there and what they now want. It's not a not to be missed. And for some particular people it will be the right thing at the right time. For me, it was just perfect for this run.

*I just want to note, that I never consider these short audible original novellas a part of my "count". If anyone was curious about where my yearlong challenge and stats actually are, I have read 86 real books out of 100. Soon its going to tell you I have reached 100. This would be wrong and inaccurate. I will let you know when I have reached a true 100. I will even count it down from 95.

[romekia furr · Rating 2 out of 5]

very anti climatic, it was ok, but ended suddenly with no real resolution

[Denise Lauron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up as a palate cleanser between bookclub books. It was included with my Audible subscription, and it was short. It was the perfect time to read it.

This was a light epistolary book about a couple going through a divorce during Covid times. It addresses many of the difficulties with life in during this time, along with general difficulties of time management and the court system.

I think that it was well written and hit many points that I hadn't thought of. Plus it kept my interest for the whole story.

[zydecope♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Tuesday. Friday. Sunday. Does it matter? No, it doesn’t matter.”






This is told from the perspective of a husband and wife who are going through/have divorced. It was interesting to hear both perspectives and tied into a few common issues many people struggle with when they experience divorce. It could have tackled more but it was over all okay.

[Debra Silverman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a divorce lawyer and thought this was a realistic view of the difficulties and pain of divorce.

[Steph Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the format of telling this story through emails and court journals, clever idea. A short listen but an honest look at how a divorce can just snowball and a great ending about valuing what you’re about to lose. Feel rather fraudulent that this will count as a “book read” in my total!!

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Short quick listen. Good, but ends kind of on a cliffhanger, although I guess the “end” is implied.

[RatGrrrl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartrending and Heartwarming

CW: Covid (Referenced in passing), Divorce

I am not sure what to say about this short story other than the fact I really enjoyed it. I have struggled with works that reference Covid as my partner and I are in the at risk category due to our chronic conditions and essentially forced to continue the lockdown life forever (The phenomenal Louise Erdrich's The Sentence was a gut punch, but incredible nonetheless), and I have had mixed experiences with epistolaries, but this was genuinely brilliant. The Covid of it all, while strangely a lynch pin of the narrative, is only referenced in passing and is more about the Zoom era than anything else, and the epistolaries being documents and emails regarding the divorce proceedings are handled really well -- short and punchy, filled with personality and driving the story.

This is a story about compatibility, needs, and communication, as well as the expected course of events. Witnessing the potential break up of two decent people (as decent as someone in real estate and wealthy enough to have employees shelter in place with them can be) who have no animosity towards each other is somehow equally, if not more, emotional than if there was mutual hatred or a one-sided feeling. There's something devastating about the niceness of it all.

I've seen some reviews talk about the ending being abrupt or not wrapped up, which it somewhat is...but that is entirely purposeful. Short stories often end suddenly and/ or with an ambiguity that is the point, which is very much the case of this one. We are left with things changing and an uncertain potential. That's great. There are some short stories on here that I do think end without purpose or effectiveness, but this isn't among them.

There has definitely been some variance in quality and some I haven't enjoyed, but I'm genuinely blown away by just how great and varied so many of the Audible Original stories included in the library have been. Will definitely be reading more of the author.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know this was a short story, but it still should have an ending. The ending was so abrupt and very off-putting. I enjoyed the book up till the end and that basically ruined it for me. So sad, because this had a lot of promise. It was very relatable and I feel like many people would've felt the same as me.

[Simi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice, easy listen of a couple’s process to end their marriage amidst the pandemic, told in emails and paperwork, and the understanding of a “no fault” divorce. I for one, actually liked the ending.

[Kristen Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Novella about a couple going through a divorce at the beginning of the pandemic told through mediation journal entries and emails to lawyers / marriage counselors. I loved the different perspectives and the prosecutor emails were hilarious

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It wasn’t great, but I loved the ending. Using the pandemic as the background for this will they/won’t they gave the dynamic a fresh feeling.

[sliceofmini · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the use of legal proceedings for the narration and the final take away but overall it was just ok

[Joha Van · Rating 1 out of 5]

I understand what they were trying to do but this doesn't work for me as an audiobook.

[Ericka Packer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick audible plus read about divorce and life during covid-19. Not really interesting

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

What...was that?

[Ashlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the way this story was told but I just wanted more!

[Monya · Rating 2 out of 5]

A semi back n forth of a couple going through divorce and what is involved to some degree.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this short story makes you reflect on how your friends, acquaintances, neighbors, family, and social network affect your romantic/spouse/main partnerships. I had a few friends get divorced or break-up (before and during this pandemic) and it's tricky navigating those friendships. Sometimes they'll suddenly ask how my marriage is, or if there are things I don't like about it. I factor in their anxiety about Covid19, dating again, and just trying to share their experience...but it's complicated. My husband lost his job during the pandemic and we're worried about money but our marriage is okay. Things are hard, but in a different way.

Overall, I think this story illustrates why it's important to communicate your feelings directly, and communicate, rather than just assume you know how another is feeling.

[Michael T. Christensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some spoilers, so if you don’t want to know anything, just check out the story and I hope you enjoy it.
“Divorce during COVID” sounds like a recipe for a depressing book. And yes, it’s definitely sober, not a lot of levity. But two things make this worth recommending:
One, it’s told through emails, which is always a fun technique.
But two, and the big selling point, is this isn’t about two people who hate each other. It’s about them changing… and it actually presents a hopeful sense that maybe, MAYBE, the two of them can still work things out.
Some of you might feel that divorce doesn’t need to be reversed for an ending to be hopeful, and that’s certainly valid. But for me, someone who believes people can work things out if they take the time to work on them, I really like how this story leaves us with hope that there is a future for this relationship.

[Juan Rivera · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the circumstances of life make you separate from another person, just as when you join someone, I believe that the decision must be taken seriously.

What if because of the pandemic and because of the children you see that it is very difficult to separate and you regret it?

This is what happens in Courtney Maum's “This Is Not Your Fault”; where the spouses begin their divorce proceedings on March 23rd. And then everything closes. She sees how difficult it is to keep the children without her husband, and he misses them, but travel and work make him a risky person and the state does not let them see them.

Better to go back?

[Morgan Lyons · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.
I thought the presentation of both parties' viewpoints through the lens of divorce documents and correspondence with counsel was creative, and I have no reason not to believe the reviewers who say that this accurately reflects many aspects of the process, but it was too short and ended on too much of a cliff-hanger for my tastes.
More than that though, I was really bothered by the wife's apparent realization near the conclusion that perhaps she could remain happily married if she just kept a man on the side to fulfill her physical/sexual needs. Um...that's not a workable solution; that's a reason for divorce, not a way to avoid one.

[Becka Ramaglia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The format of reading emails and required digital journals for a divorce proceedings during the pandemic was clever. I do feel the pandemic did slow people down to realize what is important in relationships. Did you need to buy this, does your home need a he/she separate bathrooms… sure everyone else is doing it. The pressure to do what everyone else does is… negative. Sometimes what looks dysfunctional on the outside to some, is actually functional on the inside. This was a happy ending sort of story, they don’t divorce and it’s because they slowed down and thought and talked. Maybe we all need to do that better, slow down.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever Courtney crafted this fast-paced story by escorting the reader through the characters’ emails and files. The clinical reporting forms hint at the heartbreak of a couple’s marriage falling apart. Maum creatively illuminates their pain, for example, through descriptions of property being divided up—such as the coffered ceilings in the Greenwich mansion portraying a lifestyle that got out ahead of them. Her writing style is chatty and real, making for a completely credible vignette of life unravelling during COVID.

[Krista Lukas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Audible original, which takes place during the current pandemic, consists of journal entries and emails. It tells the story of a couple who is separated and about to divorce, the reasons for that, the unlikelihood of the divorce working out since neither of them is fully committed to it, and leaves the listener with hope that they will reunite. It does everything or longer work would do in a short period of time.

[Joshua Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Depressing look at a lot of the problems that people can face in a relationship during the pandemic with a sprinkle of hope at the end. Short read and worth it.

I think it also addresses the lack of communication in a relationship can lead to its downfall and bringing in outside sources to comment on a relationship (friends/family) can lead to a skewed perspective when the single party takes a step back.

[Jasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t know exactly when I listened to this book and I don’t intend to review all the books I read in all the time I wasn’t signing in here. Mostly because that’s too much work.

But as this is an audible original and likely not super on people’s radars I thought I should tell you it’s great.

It’s an interesting look at divorce and why we do it. And how quarantine maybe changes everything. Maybe slowing down helps us see what we really care about.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

As soon as it started getting interesting, it was over. I know it's a short story, but it spent more time building characters and talking about the COVID pandemic than it did the actual story. I think this could have been an interesting full-length book/performance, but as it stands, it was severely lacking in many departments.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a short story that had my interest from the beginning until the sudden abrupt end. Had there been a resolution or a more positive feeling of the correct actions being taken, I could have given another star.