Unique just finished reading this book. I pm'ed her while she was reading it and asked that she let me know if she liked it. She was kind enough to write a review. I thought someone else might enjoy reading it. Here you go:

Flying Solo - Single Women at Midlife
By Carol Anderson & Susan Steward with Sona Dimdjian

Authors Carol Anderson and Susan Stewart and researcher Sona Dimdjian began their project by looking for successful single women between the ages of forty and fifty-five. During the course of their research, they discovered they needed to expand their definition of successful. Not all the women they interviewed had the large salaries, busy schedules and prestigious positions they had anticipated. Some were widowed, some divorced, others had never married at all. The common thread in all these women’s lives was that they were satisfied with their lives as single women. They were satisfied in their choices and they felt good in their freedom to make their own decisions.
The authors explore in detail the journeys these women made to get where they are today. The road wasn’t always easy. Erika had always imagined she would be married with children. At thirty-eight, she came to realize that since she wasn’t, she probably never would be and that it was okay. Carol, adopted Maria, at fifty. Still single, she adores her daughter and the joy she brings to her life. She feels her years alone allowed her time to focus on who she was and who she wanted to be. She is thankful for the time to decide for herself what was important in her life. She feels she is better equipped to be the mother she wants to be because she had the time to explore and grow into the person she was to become. Other single mothers describe how difficult their journeys were when
divorce or death left them unprepared to ‘do it all’ and to do it all alone.
The women in this book describe their network of friends and how important those friendships were during the tough times. They describe the roles of their families, the encouragement of some and the denigration of others. They also describe the presence or absence of men in their lives. They tell us how they feel about discovering new attitudes that allow them to enjoy their relationships with men as they are - not how they, or others think they ‘should’ be.
In this book, the authors describe societal prejudices - how they’ve changed, yet also remain intact. The women they interviewed tell us how they overcame or learned to ignore these prejudices. The Women’s Movement of the 70’s both helped and hurt these women. It shattered the myth of ‘Prince Charming’ and ‘Happily Ever After’, yet it left them nothing to replace it with. These women had to develop their own ‘Happily Ever After’ without many role models and with no instruction manuals. That they did it, and were brave enough to talk about it, leaves a path for the next generation of single women that won’t have quite so many bumps in the road.
Flying Solo is a scholarly work written in an easy to read and heart- warming style that offers all women - married, widowed, divorced, or never married - a glimpse inside ourselves by looking into the hearts of our sisters. Our journeys may never be the same.
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