“The Great Gatsby” introduces Tom Buchanan, a wealthy, arrogant man cheating openly and shamelessly on his wife, Daisy. Set against the glittering backdrop of 1920s Long Island, Tom’s affair with Myrtle Wilson illustrates the moral carelessness of the elite.
Fitzgerald exposes the destructiveness beneath the era’s glamour by showing how Tom’s selfishness and hypocrisy directly fuel the story’s central tragedy. Infidelity here is not just a personal failing; it’s a symbol of the moral decay hidden behind dazzling wealth.
While protagonist Rachel Watson watches a seemingly perfect couple from her commuter train, she is unwittingly drawn into a dark mystery when the wife, Megan, disappears. The investigation unravels a web of lies centered on Megan's husband, Scott, and Rachel’s own ex-husband, Tom.
The novel masterfully reveals how a cheating husband’s deceit can fracture perceptions of reality, leading to gaslighting, violence, and murder. It’s a gripping exploration of how infidelity’s hidden betrayals are often far more dangerous than they appear.
“Gone Girl” revolves around Nick Dunne, whose wife Amy mysteriously disappears on their fifth wedding anniversary, throwing suspicion directly on him. The case becomes a media frenzy when Nick’s affair with a younger woman is revealed, cementing his public image as a liar and potential murderer.
Gillian Flynn uses Nick’s infidelity as a critical plot engine, exploring how marital betrayal can be both a symptom and a cause of the profound deception and psychological warfare at the heart of Nick and Amy’s marriage.
In the wealthy enclave of Monterey, Liane Moriarty examines the lives of three mothers whose worlds are bound by secrets, including domestic violence and infidelity. The narrative exposes the dark realities behind seemingly perfect marriages, particularly that of Celeste and Perry.
Perry’s cheating is interwoven with his abusive behavior, illustrating how infidelity can be part of a larger pattern of control and cruelty. Moriarty portrays marital betrayal realistically, acknowledging its devastating ripple effects on self-worth, friendships, and an entire community.
In “Heartburn,” Nora Ephron tells the semi-autobiographical story of Rachel Samstat, a successful cookbook author who is seven months pregnant when she discovers her husband is in love with another woman. Filled with humor, honesty, and Ephron’s signature wit, the novel confronts the emotional turmoil of infidelity head-on.
As Rachel navigates heartbreak and anger, she turns to her love of food to cope. It’s a sharp, poignant, and surprisingly funny story about betrayal, resilience, and finding the strength to move on.
“The Other Boleyn Girl” takes readers to the court of Henry VIII, vividly recreating his notorious pursuit of Anne Boleyn while still married to Catherine of Aragon. Told from the perspective of Anne’s sister, Mary, the novel illustrates how the king’s infidelity shaped English history.
Gregory provides an intimate glimpse into how Henry’s marital betrayals, driven by his desire for a male heir and his passion for Anne, were manipulated by ambitious families for political power. Here, a husband’s cheating is not merely personal—it’s a political act with stakes that affect an entire kingdom.
Lauren Groff’s novel unfolds in two parts, examining a 24-year marriage from two starkly different perspectives. The first half, “Fates,” presents the life of Lotto, a charismatic playwright whose story includes casual infidelities that he views as minor footnotes in his grand life.
However, the second half, “Furies,” reveals his wife Mathilde’s version of their history, exposing monumental secrets and a hidden reality that re-frames Lotto’s betrayals—and their entire marriage—in a shocking and powerful new light.
In this collection of interconnected stories, Junot Díaz focuses primarily on Yunior, a Dominican-American man who is chronically unfaithful to the women he loves, leading to inevitable loss and regret. Díaz captures the act of cheating with prose that is painfully honest, witty, and heartbreakingly human.
The stories explore masculinity, cultural identity, and the corrosive consequences of betrayal. Infidelity emerges not just as a moral failing but as a form of cultural and emotional self-sabotage, leaving a raw portrait of the emotional wreckage left in its wake.
“Fleishman Is in Trouble” begins as recently separated Toby Fleishman dives into the world of app-based dating after his wife, Rachel, disappears, leaving him with their two children. As Toby recounts the history of their marriage, he paints a portrait of a wife he found cold and overly ambitious, justifying his own past infidelities.
However, the novel brilliantly pivots, eventually revealing Rachel’s side of the story and exposing how Toby’s self-absorption and emotional betrayals contributed to the marriage’s implosion, challenging the very definition of a cheating husband.
Set in the 1950s, this novel is a devastating critique of suburban conformity through the eyes of Frank and April Wheeler, a couple who see themselves as superior to their neighbors but are trapped in the same hollow existence. Frank’s dreary job and crumbling sense of self-importance lead him into a pathetic affair with a coworker.
This betrayal becomes both a symptom of his deep dissatisfaction and a weapon in the couple’s escalating psychological warfare, ultimately contributing to the story’s tragic conclusion.
This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel tells the story of Seymour "Swede" Levov, a man who seemingly achieves the American dream: he's a star athlete, a successful businessman, and has a beautiful family. But his perfect life shatters when his daughter becomes a domestic terrorist.
In the aftermath of this family tragedy, the Swede engages in an affair. His infidelity is not born of simple lust but of profound grief, confusion, and a desperate attempt to find solace, representing a final, heartbreaking crack in his carefully constructed idyllic life.
This novel opens with an act of infidelity that will define two families for the next five decades. At a christening party in the 1960s, a married lawyer named Bert Cousins kisses the host’s wife, Beverly Keating. This single act of a cheating husband blows apart both of their marriages.
The novel then follows the lives of their six children, who are thrown together into a blended family each summer. Patchett masterfully explores the long-term, cascading consequences of betrayal, showing how one husband’s choice creates a tangled legacy of resentment, loyalty, and love that echoes through generations.