Book Review: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

By Sarah Benjamin

A friend of mine read “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert and raved about it for weeks. When she insisted that I read the book, I simply responded: “I don’t do memoirs.” In truth, I didn’t do non-fiction at all. The nauseating prospect that this book was probably about some woman going through a mid-life crisis was enough to make me gag a little.

Then, while visiting this same friend in New Hampshire, as we laid on our beach blankets soaking up the sun, she handed me the book. I had nothing else to read so grudgingly, I opened it. I was immediately hooked.

I didn’t get the feeling that I was intruding on some stranger’s life, but rather reading a really good story about survival and recovery. This was the honest confession of a woman who had everything—a great marriage, a big house, and a fulfilling writing career – but suffered from an unexplainable depression. This depression was so severe that it led her to cry alone, night after night, on the bathroom floor struggling with the decision of having children or not. She knew that this struggle was the cause of her decaying marriage. It may sound depressing, but instead of closing the book, I found myself on the floor with Gilbert, vicariously and voraciously sharing in her struggles and emotions.

Gilbert’s marriage ultimately ends in divorce, and for a moment it looks as though she’s going to spiral out of control. Especially when she hooks up with a guy that seems to be more bad than good. But then, at this crucial turning point, she does the unexpected: She leaves behind her relationships, her doctors, her family and friends and heads for a whirl-wind tour of three countries: Italy, India and Bali. Her reasons: To learn to enjoy life, connect with herself and to find her own balance of the two.

My inherent sense of duty was initially skeptical of Gilbert’s “run away from it all” tactic, which I have stereotypically assumed was reserved for men. But, nonetheless, I went on the journey with her. I precariously found joy in Italy, solace in India, and discernment in Bali. It was Gilbert’s witticisms, humor and wise insights that made her story so utterly fascinating. She has an amazing sense of balance in her writing – in a simple sentence – that I found to be refreshing and inspiring. While I hope that I will never suffer from depression, get divorced or make the decision to never have kids; if I ever lose my joy, myself, or my reason, I’ll have one woman’s map of how to reclaim them. Thanks Elizabeth for sharing. I’ve bought this book to pass on to a friend: She doesn’t like memoirs, either.

Contact me at sbenjamin496@yahoo.com