Committed: A Sceptic Makes Peace with Marriage

At the end of her bestselling memoir Eat, Pray, Love,Elizabeth Gilbert fell in love with Felipe - a Brazilian-born man ofAustralian citizenship who'd been living in Indonesia when they met.Resettling in America, the couple swore eternal fidelity to each other,but also swore to never, ever, under any circumstances get legallymarried. (Both survivors of difficult divorces. Enough said.) Butprovidence intervened one day in the form of the U.S. government, who -after unexpectedly detaining Felipe at an American border crossing -gave the couple a choice: they could either get married, or Felipewould never be allowed to enter the country again. Having beeneffectively sentenced to wed, Gilbert tackled her fears of marriage bydelving completely into this topic, trying with all her might todiscover (through historical research, interviews and much personalreflection) what this stubbornly enduring old institution actually is.The result is Committed - a witty and intelligent contemplationof marriage that debunks myths, unthreads fears and suggests thatsometimes even the most romantic of souls must trade in her amorousfantasies for the humbling responsibility of adulthood. Gilbert'smemoir - destined to become a cherished handbook for any thinkingperson hovering on the verge of marriage - is ultimately a clear-eyedcelebration of love, with all the complexity and consequence that reallove, in the real world, actually entails.