My Review - 5 Stars

“It was a truth universally acknowledged that by age forty I was supposed to have a certain kind of life, one that, whatever else it might involve, included a partner and babies...If this story wasn’t going to end with a marriage or a child, what then?”

I’ve been trying to come up with the words to explain how much this book means to me. I’ve read some incredible nonfiction this year but this memoir about a woman creating her own blueprint for the single life was the book I *needed* to read. It was so good for my soul. I viscerally related to Glynnis MacNicol’s experiences, particularly the way she embraced her singleness, and felt so understood. Her words so deeply resonated with me, especially with my 39th birthday around the corner. While I remain open to meeting the love of my life, the last few years I’ve focused more on what my ideal single life looks like because I fervently believe my life has value even if it looks different from how I imagined. To that end, I've been hungry for stories of other single women who are doing the same. 

It’s a rich memoir, whether she’s asking herself what 40 means to her and whether she wants to have kids as a single woman or she’s grappling with the decline and eventual death of her mother or she’s reveling in the realization she has a life people envy her for. Best of all, it’s a memoir exploring singleness that does not end with the author in a relationship. MacNicol isn’t following a conventional path and I soaked up her wisdom as someone who is a few years ahead of me. Highly, highly recommended.

Synopsis

If the story doesn’t end with marriage or a child, what then?

This question plagued Glynnis MacNicol on the eve of her 40th birthday. Despite a successful career as a writer, and an exciting life in New York City, Glynnis was constantly reminded she had neither of the things the world expected of a woman her age: a partner or a baby. She knew she was supposed to feel bad about this. After all, single women and those without children are often seen as objects of pity, relegated to the sidelines, or indulgent spoiled creatures who think only of themselves.

Glynnis refused to be cast into either of those roles and yet the question remained: What now? There was no good blueprint for how to be a woman alone in the world. She concluded it was time to create one.

Over the course of her fortieth year, which this memoir chronicles, Glynnis embarks on a revealing journey of self-discovery that continually contradicts everything she’d been led to expect. Through the trials of family illness and turmoil, and the thrills of far-flung travel and adventures with men, young and old (and sometimes wearing cowboy hats), she is forced to wrestle with her biggest hopes and fears about love, death, sex, friendship, and loneliness. In doing so, she discovers that holding the power to determine her own fate requires a resilience and courage that no one talks about, and is more rewarding than anyone imagines.

Intimate and timely, No One Tells You This is a fearless reckoning with modern womanhood and an exhilarating adventure that will resonate with anyone determined to live by their own rules.

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