New York Times Bestseller * USA Today Bestseller* Los Angeles Times Bestseller * Publishers Weekly BestsellerA guide to wisdom, authenticity, and bliss for women as they age by the author of Reviving Ophelia.Women growing older contend with ageism, misogyny, and loss. Yet as Mary Pipher shows, most older women are deeply happy and filled with gratitude for the gifts of life. Their struggles help … happy and filled with gratitude for the gifts of life. Their struggles help them grow into the authentic, empathetic, and wise people they have always wanted to be. In Women Rowing North, Pipher offers a timely examination of the cultural and developmental issues women face as they age. Drawing on her own experience as daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, caregiver, clinical psychologist, and cultural anthropologist, she explores ways women can cultivate resilient responses to the challenges they face. “If we can keep our wits about us, think clearly, and manage our emotions skillfully,” Pipher writes, “we will experience a joyous time of our lives. If we have planned carefully and packed properly, if we have good maps and guides, the journey can be transcendent.”
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Thoughtful, wise, and profoundly transformative, Women Rowing North tells the stories that make us feel accompanied and hopeful as well as providing models and muses for all the challenges and joys of this later stage of life. Pipher inspires us to take on this most important role, one that is most needed in these challenging times of division and rancor: that of wise elders joining together and welcoming all into the beloved community she has labored to create. This is truly a one-of-a-kind book, one that I’ve been waiting for.
This book spoke to my soul as a 72 year old dealing with so many life changes.
Thoughtful discussion of the challenges women face as they age into their 60s, 70s, and 80s. It was a nice complement to her coming-of-age book about young women “Reviving Ophelia.”
Meh
Back when my daughter was growing up I read “Reviving Ophelia”. I found that book to have great advice on how to raise my daughter to be the hero of her story, not the victim or the one to be rescued, as in most the fairy tales. So when I was told about this book written by Mary Pipher about women growing older (which I am;-) I was very hopeful that it would help me just as “Reviving Ophelia” did 20 years ago. I did like this book and many quotes where spot on. But sadly for me it was not the aha moment that I had with her other book. But you might have a total different experience so give it a try and you decide.
I have already forgotten most of what it had to say.
A very helpful book.
Great read for women!
This is probably one of the most important books I’ve read in a very long time. I believe it is one of the best roadmaps for the next chapter in the life of adult women. Great concepts and ideas. I recommend it for women and men over age 40.
Man hating! Don’t need that kind of negative!
Honest tales of passage into post employment years. Expect challenges. No one gets to avoid all of them. It’s how you deal with life’s events, not which events you meet that determines how happy and fulfilled you will be.
The book really digs into the issues of women aging including both the negative and positive aspects of getting older. It is refreshing to read about a subject that really is not openly discussed.
Like the wise older sister who has gone on the path before, this gives us something to hold onto.
I love this book. Don’t stop with a once-through reading. I myself keep it at hand to dip into for a quick shot of Mary Pipher’s matter-of-fact wisdom, humor, and instinct for the essential. It never fails.
In Women Rowing North Mary Pipher offers an illuminating, much-needed template for moving through advancing years with gratitude and grace — not through denial or rejection of what’s broken and lost but by opening our hearts fully to everything our life delivers. This is a book to treasure, to keep by the bedside to remind us that, contrary to shopworn stereotypes, joy and wonder don’t have a time-stamp.
I read this book for research on a book I’m writing and was delightfully surprised. Wonderful stories about women and how aging is impacting our life choices. If you’re a Baby Boomer or older I recommend you read it. Just one heads-up: the book is heavy with Mother Nature-type references so if that kind of stuff bothers you, you may do a lot of skimming. But great advice on grand parenting, care giving, and more.
Pipher is one of our best thinkers with excellent writing and storytelling skills to make her ideas accessible to everyone. I highly recommend this book to women in their 60s and 70s (or fast-approaching that stage). However, the book’s value is not limited to aging women—not by a long shot. A demographic long sidelined or, worse, made invisible, these women are the happiest and, dare I say, some of the wisest and most capable of holding families and, thereby, society together. It’s high time we not only understand them but also, with the strong urging of Pipher, give them the respect they deserve.
Loved this book. So spot-on for women getting older and wiser. thank you Mary for this book!