Amicable Exes / Literature

• In After Her by Joyce Maynard, Rachel and Patti's mother and father divorced when the two were young children, but their father continued to play an active role in their lives. In this case, the split was because their parents married young and eventually realized that they simply didn't work as a couple and the stress from his job as a police detective pushed them apart. He admits that he makes a better friend to their mother than a husband, and the two stay close with him confiding in her when his investigation of a Serial Killer puts extreme pressure on him. It's also indicated that their mother knew about him having another child with another woman after the divorce but agreed not to tell Rachel and Patti because it would upset them.
• Alan Alone: Takara tells Miss Tijah at the disaster relief shelter that he plans to visit his only son in Japan, and is anxious because his flight was cancelled. That is until his ex-wife appears with the son, having flown there out of concern for the father when she heard about the storm.
• In the Amber Brown books, for the most part, throughout the series, Amber Brown's parents are not this. However, by the end of Amber Brown is Horsing Around, they seem to be moving towards it, if only because they've both come to realize their childish bickering and bad-mouthing each other hasn't been good for Amber.
• In Apparatus Infernum, Mikani and Saskia are not on completely relaxed terms, and have a few leftover complaints against each other (such as Saskia not letting go of the fact that Mikani once tried to arrest her). However, it's more exasperation than bitterness, and when they have to work together, they do reasonably well. This is noted to be unusual for Mikani, whose numerous ex-girlfriends seldom end up on speaking terms with him.
• Variations in Animorphs: Rachel's parents, Dan and Naomi, are uncomfortable spending time together, but they'll do it. On the other hand, she's friendly enough with Jake's parents (her ex-husband's brother and his wife) that she'll dog-sit for them when Jake's mom's grandfather passes away, while she and Jake still refer to each other as "aunt" and "nephew". And on the other hand, she and Saddler's parents don't really get along, but her family still "helps out" once he's in the local hospital.
• Watson Brewer (Kristy's step-father) and his first wife in The Baby-Sitters Club, where Watson steps in with insurance help and making sure Lisa can manage with crutches when she sprains her ankle. Less so in the Little Sister spin-off.
• In Bewilderment, Theo's late wife Alyssa was still friends with all her exes, including Martin Currier, who she used to go birdwatching with while she was married to Theo. It made Theo jealous, even though he knew she'd never cheat.
• In a subversion, Ivan and Tej in Captain Vorpatril's Alliance have an amicable attempted divorce. They get married to avoid immigration on the promise to divorce as soon as possible, only to find out that this is only allowed with cause (which means in Barryaran law, roughly the same as would be familiar on Earth plus "concealed mutation"). And "unfortunately", they had both got along too well together for that to be plausible.
• Jenny Everywhere and Madame Tarsa are revealed to be this in The Crew of the Copper-Colored Cupids — they were happily married once, "millions of years ago", but the particular incarnation of Jenny whom Tarsa had fallen in love with died; Tarsa elected to consider herself widowed, but remain friends with other versions of Jenny.
• The Daevabad Trilogy has Nahri and Muntadhir spend several years utterly miserable in an Arranged Marriage (both are in love with other people, but there's political tension and Altar Diplomacy comes into play). Once the plot is dealt with and the ruler who forced the marriage is dead, the two gleefully burn their marriage contract to become this.
• Rupert and Zinka in Deep Secret were once a couple. Exactly how serious their relationship was isn't clear, but Rupert still finds her very attractive. They broke up largely due to the sheer strain of being Magids, and remain very good friends.
• David Lurie and his second ex-wife Rosalind from Disgrace, who are still friends and meet up with each other regularly.
• Earth's Children:
  • Jondalar and Zolena. They remain good friends even though they're no longer in a relationship. Zolena obviously cares for him and is happy when he brings Ayla home, announcing he intends to make a hearth with her.
  • Jondalar, once again, and Serenio. They break up because they realize that Jondalar just can't love Serenio the way she wants, among other issues. Serenio actually intentionally invokes this, as she fears if they stayed together for the sake of it they'd eventually resent each other and she would rather they both be happy with other people.
  • Jondalar's parents, Marthona and Dalanar. They have no hard feelings over their break-up and are friendly with each other and their respective spouses.
• In Fifty Shades of Grey, Christian is good friends with his ex-domme. Subverted in that she started a relationship with him at age fifteen, it's implied that his methods of domming come from her, and he sees nothing wrong with what she did. There is also the fact that his former submissives are not good friends with him.
• In The Godfather, Johnny Fontane starts to reconcile with his first wife, at the Don's suggestion, after he gets sick of his second wife screwing around. Though they agree to just remain friends and be involved in raising their kids.
• Harry Potter: Not played straight at first with Harry and Cho. After their messy breakup, it's mentioned in Half-Blood Prince that they are too embarrassed to even look at each other. However, by the time of Deathly Hallows, things have settled down; Cho gives Harry a friendly smile when she answers to the DA's call to defend Hogwarts, and offers to help him find the Ravenclaw Diadem (before Ginny objects and has Luna take her place).
• Calliope and Josh in Hidden Things are extreme examples of this trope. Despite having a pretty messy break-up, and an even messier break-up of their band, they remained close enough that Calliope joined Josh's new detective agency even though it's implied she dislikes it. She even refers to Josh as her best friend. Their relationship is so amicable that virtually every other character at one point or another suggests that they never broke up at all.
• Loveless: After winning him back at Shakespeare Soc, Georgia apologizes to Jason for using him as part of her experimenting phase. Jason accepts the apology and doesn't mind remaining friends with her, even if he was heartbroken that his crush on her wasn't reciprocated.
• Nathan and Cynthia, in The Memory Wars, dated briefly in college. They're still close enough to go investigating murder scenes together.
• Of Fire and Stars: Mare was best friends with Nils before they became lovers. They remain that close after as well.
• One Day has Dex and Sylvie amicably sharing custody of their daughter and still caring about each other.
• One-Third Nerd: Liam, Dakota, and Izzy's parents are divorced, but they're still on good terms, and even seem to pool finances.
• In The Pale King, Chris Fogle's parents try to give this impression, but both of them are deeply affected by it.
• Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg's The Positronic Man: In this adaptation of "The Bicentennial Man", it is established that when Ma'am leaves to go to an art colony, she is also leaving the marriage. However, she remains in contact with the rest of the family, especially Sir.
• In Elinor Glyn's The Reflections of Ambrosine, there's a Third-Act Misunderstanding when the heroine meets a child sired by her Love Interest and one of her greatest friends. Without any discussion with said friend, she assumes the guy must be off-limits and dashes off a letter telling him so. He replies equally quickly that the relationship happened ten years ago, ended completely mutually, and both of them consider it nothing more than a youthful folly ^note the book is set before the invention of contraceptives, when even non-serious relationships could result in children. It's just that Ambrosine cannot imagine someone not being as passionately devoted to him as she is.
• The Shadowhunter Chronicles:
  • Clary and Simon are still best buds after breaking up, which they attribute to them not being right for each other, rather than any personal flaws. In The Dark Artifices, the two have become parabatai, which means that they forsook any romantic love in exchange for a brotherly one (parabatai being forbidden from loving each other romantically).
  • Emma and Cameron, who decide not to pursue each other again after their final breakup.
• Decidedly defied in Shaman Blues. Despite years having passed since Konstancja and Witkacy had their falling-out, he's still angry at her, and she still doesn't feel comfortable coming to him for help. He even points out that she shouldn't expect this trope to occur, seeing how she pretty much abandoned him.
• In the Song of the Lioness series, Alanna ends up breaking up with Prince Jonathan after the third book, and after spending some time apart they evolve into this, with Alanna even being chosen as King's Champion^note essentially the highest-ranking Knight in the kingdom, meaning that he trusts her to dispense justice on his behalf once Jonathan is crowned.
• Robert B. Parker's Sunny Randall and her ex-husband Richie still spend quite a bit of time together, to the detriment of their other relationships. Their divorce was due to a variety of factors but is mostly Can't Live with Them, Can't Live Without Them and the fact that Sunny realized that Richie was very similar to her father. They don't have any children, but their miniature bull terrier Rosie is shared between them, with much Lampshading about how they want the best for their "kid."
  • By the same author, Jesse Stone has an interesting relationship with his ex-wife Jenn that varies between this and less amicable, since while she did cheat on him to further her career they are on relatively good terms, and cooperate on a few cases (the TV movies based on the books play their relationships as much more antagonistic). Parker himself was Happily Married for over 50 years to his wife Joan.
  • It's no surprise, then, when Sunny and Jesse end up hooking up in a Crossover between their series.
• Tales from Netheredge: At the end of Bright Flame Galen and Rask make amends after the reappearance of Cole, and by the time of Jewel of the Harem all three of them cordially share a home.
• In Robert Heinlein's Time Enough for Love, Lazarus Long states that he ended up parting on good terms with most of the wives he's had over his two-thousand-year lifespan. Though one or two tried to kill him. The discussions other long-lived Howards have about their marriages suggest that it's a common phenomenon with them.
• In The Traitor Son Cycle, it's implied rather heavily that before the Red Knight started his mercenary company, he and Sauce were lovers. They've broken up since, but are still good friends, with her serving as his Number Two in the company.
• The Trials of Apollo: Piper and Jason. Despite breaking up, they still care for each other a lot and go on missions together.
• Charlie and Renee in The Twilight Saga.
• In Vampire Academy, Janine Hathaway and Ibrahim "Abe" Mazur had a relationship eighteen years before the main events of the series. They interact closely late in the series and seem to have a very friendly relationship. Rose suspects that they are getting back together.
• The Wake Of The Lorelei Lee has Jacky and Higgins getting married as a cover. As soon as possible, they get divorced, and their relationship goes back to the way it always was.
• In Warrior Cats, Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight eventually get back to being on friendly terms after their breakup: he forgives her and even makes her his Number Two when he becomes Clan leader. A while later they realize how dumb they're being and that they still love each other, and get back together.
• In The Warrior Heir, Linda Downey and her ex Hastings sometimes act like this, sometimes ... not. They haven't split up because of the usual reasons, but because of different opinions on how the problems of the main plot ought to be solved. So when they do fight, they are not bitter about the end of the relationship but angry because the other person foils their plans.
• In A World Less Visible, getting a divorce seems to have greatly improved Ted's relationship with his ex. She enthusiastically approves of his new boyfriend.
• In Call Me Sunflower, Mom and Scott are still good friends after their breakup. Sunny hopes that this will improve their chances of getting back together, but they're never anything more than friendly no matter what she does. This is because their relationship was a sham. They were really just Heterosexual Life-Partners who wanted to Give the Baby a Father.
• Stim: Robert and Chloe temporarily break up in Kaleidoscope. They keep living together, partly because they find change stressful, and partly because they still enjoy each other's company even in they aren't dating. As Chloe puts it, "We've decoupled, but we haven't defriended."
• In Sanctuary, Vinnie and Caleb stayed together long after their relationship died, partly for the sake of their son Theo, but partly just because they're such good friends.
• How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom: Played with in the case of Castor Vargas. He divorced his wife, Accela Walter, to protect her from being caught up in the consequences of his rebellion, but she still loves him and considers herself his wife.
• Shatter the Sky: Maren and Kaia seem to be this way or heading toward it after they've broken up by the end. They at least are polite and respectful to each other.
• The Basic Eight: Flannery and Douglas are broken up by the time the story begins but remain close friends.

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