A review by pattydsf
The Bitch Is Back: Older, Wiser, and (Getting) Happier by Cathi Hanauer

4.0

“In short, they, we, ‘difficult’ women, we thinking women, we women who finally have the opportunities and chutzpah to carve and design our own lives, had looked inward to see what was there and what was not, what we could live with or without , and what we still needed. And then we’d adjusted our lives and expectations accordingly.”

I can’t quite believe it has been almost fifteen years since Hanauer put together the essay collection, The Bitch in the House. I found those essays maddening, funny and often too close to my own life. When I saw that Hanauer had put together a new collection, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. How many of these essays would focus of the parts of life I am struggling with?

Well, I am not sure that I related as closely to this collection, but I found most of these essays fascinating. I shared the first collection of essays with my book group and I might do so again. These essays are well written and some are very thought-provoking.

There are 25 essays in this book about women living in the 21st century. These 25 women couldn’t possibly write about every aspect of being a woman in the United States, but they do cover a lot of ground. There is humor, tears, triumphs and failures. If you are a woman and like essays, there has to be at least one in here for you. Other readers may also find something of interest, but I feel that the main audience for this book is women.