Recipe for a Perfect Marriage - Women's Web

Editor: Sandhya Renukhamba

Genre: Short Story Anthology, Feminism.

Rating: 3.7 stars.

First and foremost, don't take the word “marriage” in the title literally. “Marriage” is a union of two people, but it can also mean a combination of elements. Similarly, this anthology covers a multitude of relationships rather than restricting itself to the husband-wife connection. So it’s not just a recipe for the perfect marriage but a recipe for maintaining the multifarious relationships in your life and how to stand for yourself and also not be judgemental.

The stories are all by Indian writers, so their context and their content will certainly be more appreciated by the Indian/Indian-origin audience. However, the ones that are well-written transcend nationalities and will offer something to every reader. A couple of the stories are too short to leave much impact but most develop their plot well.

The collection has 25 stories by 22 woman writers. When I see that a story is written by a woman, my mind creates some expectations. Most of the stories in the book deliver just what I had thought. Some of them went even further by using male or LGBTQIA+ protagonists. The leading characters also come from a variety of age groups. I love to be surprised in an anthology and these factors certainly surprised me pleasantly.

At the same time, I do have a complaint. We often talk about ‘Men Writing Women’ and mention how they trivialise the female body. When women write women, things are never that bad. But can we please steer clear of the old-fashioned physical stereotypes? Do the protagonists have to be tall/fair/beautiful/curvy? Can’t we regularise this fascination we have with the traits that are supposedly “physical perfection”? Could we please also have short, dusky, average-looking, flat-chested leading ladies without their being apologetic/under-confident about the same? Women writers should take charge of initiating this change – leading by example is the best way, after all. (Just to clarify, not all the stories are guilty of this issue. But quite a few are.)

My favourite kind of feminist stories are never those that knock down every single Indian tradition or indulge in only male-bashing, but the ones that blend the best of both worlds - traditional and modern - and depict all genders in a fair way. My ratings will match my preference. The 4.5-5 star ones are those that truly bowled me over. The 3.5-4 star ones were really good but fell slightly short either because of predictability or plot development. Of the 25 stories, 8 fell in the 4.5-5 star category and 9 reached the 3.5-4 star slot. So 17 out of 25 offered good fodder for the mind and heart.

My top favourites were:

👉 Coming Second by Smriti Sinha - 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

👉 Disha by Urmi Chakravorty - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫

👉 It’s NOT Your Fault! by Smita Das Jain - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫

👉 Let’s Keep The Lights Off… by Sreeparna Sen - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫

👉 My Secret Second Life by Janani Balaji - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫

👉 Papa's Second Chance by Lalitha Ramanathan - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫

👉 Recipe For A Perfect Marriage by Supriya Bansal - 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (Such a beautiful story! I completely understand why the book takes its title from this gem.)

👉 The Unlikely Demon Slayer by Narayani Manapadam - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫

As the foreword says, is there really any “Happily Ever After”? Let me add, can we create our own “Happily Ever After” instead of waiting for others to do so for us? That’s what these stories tell us. Some of their protagonists have already achieved their HEA; some are hoping to do so, step by step. Thus the collection is a perfect blend of “Happily Ever After” and “Hopefully Ever After”. Do try.

3.7 stars, based on the average of my ratings for all the stories.

The book is available on KU India.