Author: S.E. Bourne
Date: 2023
Publisher: Amazon
Length: 130 e-pages
ISBN: to be assigned
Quote: "Worried about work, aging, where I will live, who will care, and how will I continue to navigate this strange new world."
This collection of short stories and poems about middle-aged women lives up to its subtitle, An Airing of Grievances. The grievances are real ones, and may bring tears. There are more worries than solutions for the women who tell their stories in this book, and as the stories are first-person sketches that run together in the mind and give the effect of one woman's memoir...I had an Adult Education student like that, once. Everything seemed to have gone wrong and nothing gone right, all through her forty-plus years. I reminded myself repeatedly, while reading this e-book, that that woman did not want to be pitied.
For women who want to stop whining and do something about these horribly common complaints--I'm not talking about any "revolutionary" fantasies that bigger government ever can or will bring "justice," I mean practical things like choosing roommates, providing respite care for those caring for disabled parents, networking to help each other find jobs--this book could be used as an outline for consciousness-raising and group-bonding sessions. If we don't have or want groups, reading it might be like talking to an old friend or relative...the one who seldom has much help to offer but at least understands your problems.
For some readers there's the cold comfort of thinking "At least my problems aren't as awful as hers, I avoided this, was able to spare myself that." Still, at the end of the day (or the book), it's all about the common story of middle age: Life's been rough, our friends have died, and we're not getting any younger.
These cautionary tales can also be read as a series of prods to make our own lives better while we can. Drugs? Say no. Fear that, if we speak casually to younger richer men at a convention, we'll be mistaken for "old hookers"? Cultivate that "I could be your old third grade teacher, Sister Cruel Ruler" vibe. Fear that other family members will vote to sell the family house you wanted to live in? Start saving up to buy them out...Old age is not for wimps, but there are some things we can plan and prepare for.
At the very least, this book will give younger people some insight into what older people worry about, what we want to help our children avoid...about what many of us have gone through. It may help young people respect us as the tough survivors we are. Life's like school: You solve all the problems they throw at you at one level, and by way of a reward, the next day you get a fresh lot of harder ones.
No comments:
Post a Comment