Rewriting My Happily Ever After

Rewriting My Happily Ever After – A Memoir of Divorce and Discovery is Dr. Ranjani Rao’s brave and honest attempt at sharing her life story with the readers. In this profound memoir, Dr. Rao narrates how she took control of her life after walking out of a loveless and incompatible marriage.

The bright blue cover, the steep hill with a woman on top, gives us a glimpse of what to expect. It is not a dreary reading, but one filled with optimism. It is not the journey of a tired or defeated woman, rather; it’s the story of a brave woman who undertook a challenging journey only to emerge victorious and contented.

Though we are witnessing a change in mindsets and attitude as regards divorce, unfortunately, it is still a taboo, especially among Indians. Even today, women continue to suffer in unhappy marriages for various reasons. It takes a lot of courage to sign on the dotted line and end a marriage, but the author took that decision and reinvented her life after being married for 16 long years.

My heart went out to the author as I read about her struggles with fertility, unhappy married life, divorce and challenges as a single parent. I felt as if I was having an intimate conversation with a friend, rather than reading a stranger’s life story.

When one reads memoirs on the difficult topic of divorce, often there is a lot of blame-game. But Dr. Rao’s narration is devoid of any mud-slinging. Rather, the emphasis lies solely on her lessons and the ways she adopted in this phase of life. Her disciplined way of living and adopting journal writing to count her blessings gave her the courage to carry on despite many challenges. The author’s resilience, composure, positivity and focused approach to life is praise-worthy. She won my respect with her steadfast refusal to use her daughter as a pawn.

Rewriting My Happily Ever After is a hopeful memoir and a beacon of hope for women stuck in unhappy relationships.

Thank you, Dr. Rao, for sharing your story with the world.

Highlighting a few of my favourite lines…

No matter how difficult, choosing freedom over toxic familiarity would always be the correct choice.

Faith is a funny thing. It holds out the option of surrender when everything else has failed.

Words have power. When we internalize things that people say about us, those words often become our beliefs.

I received an ARC from the author. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Wordsopedia Rating – 4/5 

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About the author

Dr. Ranjani Rao is a trained scientist, a self-taught writer, yoga practitioner, and lifelong learner committed to an apprenticeship in observation.

With her experience of having lived in three countries and visited thirty and her scientific outlook, Ranjani writes insightful personal essays. Her award-winning commentaries and op-eds have appeared in print and digital magazines in the USA, India and Singapore.

Originally from Mumbai, India, Ranjani spent several years in the USA and lives in Singapore with her family. When not working or valiantly tackling the unread pile of books by her bedside, she goes for long walks in the nature reserve behind her home. She often returns with new ideas or pictures of roosters, wild boars and monkeys that she shares on social media, much to the embarrassment of her children.

Get in touch with the author on her website.