Leaving Home With Half A Fridge, the debut book by Arathi Menon, is a non-fiction account of her own divorce, the struggles she faced and how she got over them and moved on. In a sense, it is also a how-to for anybody going through a divorce or separation, and would probably be relatable to someone who has gone through one - although of course, not every divorce is the same, and not everyone deals with pain the same way. However, the book is so interesting and affably written that you don’t need to be divorced, married, or even old enough to get married in order to enjoy it.
Of course, “enjoy” sounds like a strange word to use about a book that chronicles someone else’s sorrows, but Menon’s writing is funny, light, and likeable, making the book a pleasant read. Even while discussing the hardest moments of her divorce, Menon’s tone remains non-indulgent, with funny similes and analogies, and indignant remarks about pesky aunty jis.
Her tone is full of character, often saying more about her than the anecdotes she tells, and once you’re done reading, you have to sit down and remind yourself that you don’t actually know this person, just her book. She doesn’t bottle up any of the more juvenile, plaintive emotions that we all feel when we’re sad, but never actually admit to. The “I feel so wronged”, “It wasn’t my fault at all”, and “I hate the person who did this to me and I hope they rot in hell” sentiments of the inner petulant child that we all have but flatly deny the existence of, is unapologetically bared in Menon’s book.
However, this doesn’t bring the book down or give it a whiny quality; quite on the contrary, in fact, it makes the book seem more refreshing and real, than a bland, analytical autopsy of a dead relationship.
Every emotion in her book feels genuine and vibrant, which is quite impressive as she is writing some years after the divorce is over, in hindsight, yet managing to capture everything as it was felt at the time.
The number of embarrassing things Menon admits to doing and feeling is not only surprising but downright brave. We all do embarrassing things, especially when we’re going through a bad time.
We don’t all talk about these things in a book. Menon’s fearless admissions of the silliest, most selfish, and most morally questionable things she’s done, are not only intriguing but also endearing, and between the candid way she tells these stories, and the natural humour she writes with, her weakest moments only serve to make the reader like her more.
About halfway through the book, she has a little sub-chapter dedicated to forgiving herself for all of the little wrongs she’s done while going through her divorce and then gives the reader the space (literally) to do so too.
She also pulls no punches while talking about the people who’ve hurt her - all the relatives, strangers, and everyone in between who have poked their noses where they don’t belong, or been rude or insensitive about Menon’s choice to get a divorce have been given a good piece of her mind, for all the world to see.
Conversely, everyone who’s helped her through, and been kind to her and given her strength have also been given their due recognition and gratitude. As for the Ex himself (who is referred to simply as “the Ex” throughout the book), he is treated with a grudging fairness; even though she often talks about feeling hurt by him and his choices, she makes sure that he’s never seen as a horrible person, by the reader.
What’s best about the book, though, is that at no point does she air dirty laundry by talking about the actual issue that broke them up.
She makes it very clear right from the start that she’s here to talk about her experience of getting a divorce, not to divulge couple secrets about how and why they ended up in that position in the first place. She only makes it clear that he wasn’t at any point abusive to her and that they broke up over a problem they couldn’t get over. What that problem was, she doesn’t mention. This respect that she gives to the privacy and secrets of a couple that no longer exists is extremely mature.
Book: Leaving Home With Half A Fridge
Author: Arathi Menon
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Price: Rs 299