Would your marriage survive if you went on vacation for a year? A book review of the Marriage Vacation by Pauline Turner Brooks

Men can often leave their family, wife and kids, for months on end, either for work or for adventure, and no one thinks twice about it. It’s socially acceptable for men to do this. But what would happen if a woman did this for close to a year, not for work but for taking time for herself, for her own self-rediscovery? The Marriage Vacation explores just that. It follows Katherine Carmichael, Kate, who attends her university friend’s wedding without her husband, who last minute had to work. Her university friend, Nina, the flaky friend, fills her head with the idea of moving to Thailand at least for a couple of weeks. These weeks eventually and unintentionally turn into months.

The book explores various themes such as losing oneself in the identity of a mother and a wife, and the change in priorities that can often accompany this. Hobbies and careers can sometimes take a back burner and so do passions. Katherine postpones becoming a writer, something she has actually wanted for long. Actually, she postpones it for 10 years! When she leaves and extends her stay in Thailand, she is ostracized by her mum friends even emailing her to ask if she had a nervous breakdown. Her husband even goes ahead to file for divorce on grounds of…