The Divorce
Naomi thought she had the perfect life: the whirlwind romance, the dream house, and the beautiful family. But the fairy tale violently ends the day her husband kicks her out, drains their bank accounts, and replaces her with a twenty-something. Society expects her to quietly accept defeat, move into a cramped apartment, and rebuild her shattered reality from scratch. But Naomi has a different plan. Instead of moving on, she begins to closely watch her husband's new girlfriend. What starts as cynical curiosity quickly spirals into a dark, all-consuming obsession. As she digs deeper, Naomi unearths terrifying secrets that put her very life on the line. But when the survival of her perfect family is at stake, there's no line she won't cross.
- Naomi - Jeremy’s wife, 42
- Jeremy - Naomi’s husband, 40
- Teddy - Naomi and Jeremy’s son, 5
- Veronica (Ronnie) - Jeremy’s mistress, 28
- Clay - Veronica’s ex-boyfriend, Dominic’s biological father
- Lola - Veronica’s friend
- Dominic - Veronica and Clay’s son
- Lorraine - Naomi’s mother
- Rosita - Teddy’s babysitter
- Ezra Fletcher - Naomi’s divorce lawyer
- Leonard Hardwick - Jeremy’s divorce lawyer
- Part I
- Jeremy tells Naomi he wants a divorce.
- Jeremy cancels Naomi’s credit cards and drains their bank account.
- Naomi sees Jeremy kissing Veronica.
- Jeremy offers Naomi half a million dollars if she will agree to give him primary custody of Teddy but she refuses.
- Naomi gets sick after drinking her homemade kombucha.
- Veronica gives Teddy a stuffed elephant toy and Jeremy finds it stabbed and covered in a red substance at Naomi's house.
- Jeremy tells Naomi not to come to Teddy’s birthday party.
- When she shows up anyway, Jeremy calls the police and Naomi is arrested for trespassing.
- Jeremy files a restraining order to keep Naomi away from him and Teddy.
- Naomi goes to Jeremy’s house in violation of the restraining order.
- Veronica answers the door and starts to call Jeremy so Naomi hits her over the head with a large rock.
- Naomi drags Veronica to the basement and cuts off her hair.
- Ezra shows up at the house and hears Veronica scream.
- Naomi pushes Ezra down the basement steps.
- Part III
- Six years ago: Veronica is dating Clay and they are heroin addicts.
- Veronica gives birth to Dominic and she and Clay decide to get clean.
- Clay takes Dominic for a drive and comes home without him but doesn’t know what happened to him because he got high.
- They call the police but the police don’t believe a baby exists because Clay is currently high.
- After five years, Lola finds a birth certificate issued for Teddy a week after Dominic disappeared.
- It was issued by Lorraine, who worked in the records department at town hall and was known to give people documents without all the official paperwork if you slipped her some money.
- Jeremy tells Veronica that he only married Naomi because she showed up on his doorstep with Teddy and claimed he was Jeremy’s child.
- Veronica and Jeremy start an affair and Jeremy decides to leave Naomi.
- Veronica does a DNA test and it confirms that Teddy is Dominic.
- Part IV
- Naomi kidnapped Teddy when she found him in the car with Clay at a rest stop and Clay was passed out with drug paraphernalia next to him.
- Lorraine convinced her to list Jeremy as the father because he was rich and could give him a good life.
- When Jeremy insisted on a DNA test, Naomi swabbed Jeremy’s father instead of Teddy so the test showed a match.
- In the basement, Naomi sets a fire.
- Ezra trips Naomi and smashes her on the head.
- Veronica gets Teddy out of the house.
- Epilogue: When Teddy was two years old Clay found Jeremy and told him who Teddy really was.
- Jeremy takes another paternity test that proves Teddy is not his biological son but he doesn’t want to lose Teddy so he orchestrates Clay’s drug overdose death.
- Jeremy is the one who put Tylenol in Naomi’s kombucha hoping it would kill her.
- Jeremy is the one who damaged Teddy's toy elephant to frame Naomi as being unstable.
Going into a new Freida McFadden book, I expect a fast-paced thriller, but The Divorce takes a different approach. The writing is still good, but it is a much slower burn than her usual work. What really bogged it down for me was the extra padding. There is a lot of over-description and too many interactions with side characters who do not matter much to the main plot. It felt like the story took the long way around to reach outcomes that could have been handled much more directly.
The book is split into four parts and jumps between Naomi and Veronica's POVs. That structure makes the pacing feel better, turning what could have been a heavier read into something surprisingly quick.
My biggest issue is just that the core storyline is nothing special. It leans on a setup that has been used a lot in this genre, making it feel very familiar. There are twists, of course, but none of them shocked me. Because I saw most of the reveals coming, nothing about the execution felt unique. It is a well-written drama, but it misses out on the jaw-dropping moments I always hope to find.
- Ezra - Dead - Killed in the fire started by Naomi
- Clay - Dead - Drug overdose orchestrated by Jeremy
- Naomi - Dead - Killed in the fire she started
- Jeremy - Alive - Willing to do anything to keep Teddy
- Veronica - Alive - Ready for the truth to come out that she is Teddy’s biological mother
- Murder
- Kidnapping
- Fire
- Drug use
- Body shaming
- Infertility
ISBN: 9781464249631
Publication Date: May 26, 2026
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.
