Belle Burden, author of STRANGERS, in conversation with Nicole Small!

Love, marriage, & what happens when the story changes. Belle Burden shares the details from her book & what we've all been talking about! Location Update: Royal Lane Baptist Church (Royal Lane and Hillcrest). Join Belle Burden and Nicole Small for a wonderful discussion! INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - "Burden's searing, probing memoir explores . . . what she learned about intimacy and her own spirit."--People​​ FINALIST FOR THE NEW ENGLAND BOOK AWARD It was a great love story, one for the ages. The speed of our beginning and the speed of our ending felt like matching bookends. They both came out of nowhere. He wanted it, he wanted me. And then he didn't. In March 2020, Belle Burden was safe and secure with her family at their house on Martha's Vineyard, navigating the early days of the pandemic together--building fires in the late afternoons, drinking whisky sours, making roast chicken. Then, with no warning or explanation, her husband of twenty years announced that he was leaving her. Overnight, her caring, steady partner became a man she hardly recognized. He exited his life with her like an actor shrugging off a costume. In Strangers, Burden revisits her marriage, searching for clues that her husband was not who she always thought he was. As she examines her relationship through a new lens, she reckons with her own family history and the lessons she intuited about how a woman is expected to behave in the face of betrayal. Through all of it, she is transformed. The discreet, compliant woman she once was--someone nicknamed "Belle the Good"--gives way to someone braver, someone determined to use her voice. With unflinching honesty and profound grace, Burden charts a path through heartbreak to show the power of a woman who refuses to give up on love. Strangers is a stunning, deeply moving, compulsively readable memoir heralding the arrival of a thrilling new literary talent. About the Author Belle Burden holds a BA from Harvard College and a law degree from the New York University School of Law. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times. She lives with her children in New York City. About the Moderator Nicole Small serves as CEO of LH Capital/ Lyda Hill Philanthropies, entities which fund game-changing advances in science and nature, empower non-profits, and to improve the local communities of greatest importance to the organizations’ founder, Lyda Hill. Since 2014, Ms. Small has overseen the strategic direction of both entities, including their investment activities and philanthropic initiatives. LHP is committed to funding innovative solutions both in the non-profit and for-profit worlds. This involves an exciting array of work ranging from making biotech investments to working with conservation NGOs. As part of LHP’s commitment to building a biotech ecosystem in Texas, Small has played a leading role in the development of Pegasus Park. Ms. Small also co-founded the IF/THEN Initiative to encourage and advance women and girls in STEM. As part of this work, she is an Executive Producer on CBS’s Mission Unstoppable. From 2001-2013, Small was the inaugural Eugene McDermott Chief Executive Officer at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. During her tenure, she led the merger of three museums and worked with the Board to raise over $200 million. Earlier in her career, Small held a variety of positions including the founder/CEO of an internet start-up, an Entrepreneur in Residence, and as an analyst with McKinsey & Company. Small received a degree from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management. She is a member of The Dallas Assembly, YPO, Charter 100, and IWF. Nicole currently serves on the boards of Southwestern Medical Foundation, UTSW Presidents Advisory Board, Texas 2036, and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, and is a former Board member of CFT and the Hockaday School. Small resides in Dallas with her husband and two daughters. Belle Burden is planning to personally sign books after the talk!