Where do I start - so many resonances here Millie - you certainly have a talent for voicing what many women feel but fear to bring into the open. I think that’s good writing being able to excavate others’ feelings a bit like therapy.
Firstly synchronicity - the book I’m about to read for review is about a lot of what you’ve raised here I think - Hags: the demonisation of middle-aged women by Victoria Smith. Secondly the subject of women looking in the mirror... mine is an unusual story - at the end of 2009 I looked in the mirror at my 210+kg self - less than a year later I was looking at my 60kg self. I’d neither intended to lose weight or dieted - hindsight tells me it was a middle-age breakdown - a mother of 3 adult children the youngest was famous (truly) and the privileged life our family was thrust into was too much for me - and guess what - no one noticed. Yes they noticed that I went from a size 22 to a 10 but it was all seen as positive and amazing. I rode the wave of this for a while but then realised everything was wrong. In 2011 I left my husband divorced and changed my name - I also met someone else afterwards...
Anyway run forward to the Pandemic - and the new life I made with a new husband is solid and... so contented and peaceful that in all honesty we were hardly touched by the Pandemic - we are a privileged few I know. So many interesting things brought back by your little piece of writing - fab...
Thank you Milli, for a beautiful bit of writing. I think that your observations of just how fragile our constructed lives really are is excellent. That's why I have always had such immense satisfaction working with women in the areas of birth and breastfeeding, because these things are real, truly miraculous and immersive. I also fear for those kids who have come under the spell of "glitter families"; except in unusual circumstances, no one will love you the way your mother does. Creating a performance art lifestyle will never make your life "authentic". And as an older woman, the best movie I've seen in a long time was "Good Luck to You, Leo Grande".
I recall hearing you mention the next book you were writing, I think it was on the WRN zoom? I happened to mention it today, talking about the how women go through so many life changes, and that I’m looking forward to getting a copy already! Hope the writing is going well and I’m glad for Elon. His presence has meant the return of several great accounts, cancelled for no reason other than a ridiculous woke twitter twerp who prefers lies to free speech and has delusions of grandeur cancelling honest voices.
Where do I start - so many resonances here Millie - you certainly have a talent for voicing what many women feel but fear to bring into the open. I think that’s good writing being able to excavate others’ feelings a bit like therapy.
Firstly synchronicity - the book I’m about to read for review is about a lot of what you’ve raised here I think - Hags: the demonisation of middle-aged women by Victoria Smith. Secondly the subject of women looking in the mirror... mine is an unusual story - at the end of 2009 I looked in the mirror at my 210+kg self - less than a year later I was looking at my 60kg self. I’d neither intended to lose weight or dieted - hindsight tells me it was a middle-age breakdown - a mother of 3 adult children the youngest was famous (truly) and the privileged life our family was thrust into was too much for me - and guess what - no one noticed. Yes they noticed that I went from a size 22 to a 10 but it was all seen as positive and amazing. I rode the wave of this for a while but then realised everything was wrong. In 2011 I left my husband divorced and changed my name - I also met someone else afterwards...
Anyway run forward to the Pandemic - and the new life I made with a new husband is solid and... so contented and peaceful that in all honesty we were hardly touched by the Pandemic - we are a privileged few I know. So many interesting things brought back by your little piece of writing - fab...
Thank you Milli, for a beautiful bit of writing. I think that your observations of just how fragile our constructed lives really are is excellent. That's why I have always had such immense satisfaction working with women in the areas of birth and breastfeeding, because these things are real, truly miraculous and immersive. I also fear for those kids who have come under the spell of "glitter families"; except in unusual circumstances, no one will love you the way your mother does. Creating a performance art lifestyle will never make your life "authentic". And as an older woman, the best movie I've seen in a long time was "Good Luck to You, Leo Grande".
I recall hearing you mention the next book you were writing, I think it was on the WRN zoom? I happened to mention it today, talking about the how women go through so many life changes, and that I’m looking forward to getting a copy already! Hope the writing is going well and I’m glad for Elon. His presence has meant the return of several great accounts, cancelled for no reason other than a ridiculous woke twitter twerp who prefers lies to free speech and has delusions of grandeur cancelling honest voices.
Thank you for all you do. XX
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