Book Review: Leaving Home with Half a Fridge- A Memoir

Book: Leaving Home with Half a Fridge: A Memoir

Author: Arathi Menon

Publisher: Pan Macmillan India

Pages: 287

Price: Rs 164

If you are the type who judges a book by its cover, then make sure you pick this one, Arathi Menon's Leaving Home with Half a Fridge, a poignant account of the author's journey from a failed marriage and divorce to her evolution as a free and happy person, won't disappoint.

The D-word is what she resorts to when she finds herself unhappy after five years of marriage and subtly accuses the ex of breaking her heart. That Menon gives no clear reason for the divorce makes it possible for the reader to read without judging her or her former husband.

Menon expertly weaves her pain and suffering into a tapestry of humour and wit to keep the reader engaged. For instance, when she recounts her first court visit, "Courts don't look like they do in the Hindi movies. There is no banister, no wigs and no 'Mai Lord." Or when she talks about the compensation for the loss of love: "How do you do the math for five years of living? It's not like you keep tabs on who bought more potatoes. What do you measure this time with? How much does a year of your life cost? He can never compensate for those two years of complete darkness and pain, where there was not even the hope of light." All questions and nuggets of wisdom for couples who are going through separation and divorce.

Menon's lucid writing allows the reader to not just be a spectator but empathise with her through her quest for love, freedom and happiness. She admits that she found happiness after the biggest social institution she had committed to had broken down. "It is a fairy tale with a happy ending."

Her journey becomes yours, when she narrates various incidents of family and friends giving her unwarranted advice on how to save her marriage. It's a reminder of how often society takes upon itself the task of deciding the route for our happiness—whether we accept it or not. You can't but then agree with Menon when she says, "In a society like ours, 'happiness' is considered a dangerous thing—something that shouldn't be indulged in; something that has the potential to ruin you. While on the other hand, endurance, stoicism and suffering are applauded and cited as examples to follow."