READING LIST: the sequel

Have you read Eat, Pray, Love? I've seen the movie a couple of times; it's poignant, uplifting and both sad and hilarious in parts. It's a good one for hungover weekends, that's for sure, if not just to imagine yourself eating bowl after bowl of pasta. I read the book at the beginning of the year and while the movie is wonderful, the book is so much more profound. I'm in awe of Elizabeth Gilbert's writing and I think Julia Roberts was a perfect choice for the role - I found myself laughing out loud on more than one occasion, with Roberts' voice resounding in my head. I didn't know about the sequel, Committed, until it popped up in my Amazon feed, and I devoured it in a couple of weeks (it's the perfect book to read in a big ol' bubble bath, fyi). It follows on from Gilbert's story after she fell in love with Felipe in Bali. Having both been through difficult divorces, they vow to remain happily devoted to each other, yet unmarried, until they are forced to marry in order to live together in the US. What ensues is a personal journey of what it means to be married, featuring historical analysis and statistics interspersed with personal anecdotes and stories from other cultures. It could have been a dry, or self-indulgent, follow-up to Eat, Pray, Love, but it's neither of those things and is both compelling, heartwarming and utterly fascinating. I'm fascinated by human relationships, which is probably why I did my degree in Social Anthropology, and it's a wonderful look at what marriage means to the beautiful thing that is love. I promise it's not a totally mushy love fest, either.