The first time Stephanie Staal read feminist authors like Simone de Beauvoir and Betty Friedan, she was a nineteen-year-old student taking a Feminism 101 class, her eyes as wide as the horizon of limitless possibility that stretched in front of her. A decade later, Stephanie is a wife and mother who has traded the stability and independence of full-time work for the flexibility of freelancing as she brings up her daughter in a small city to which she has moved from the hub of New York. Her former self seems to be increasingly obscured by the diaper- and dish-load. Distant from her family and urban friends, Stephanie turns back to the feminist classics, re-enrolling in the same Feminism 101 class at her alma mater, and puts them to the test: can they speak to her as incisively now as they did to the idealistic nineteen-year-old? And who are the new generation of feminists taking the course for the first time—what does feminism mean to them?
Advance praise for Reading Women:
“[B]rave and compelling … I cherished every page.” —J. Courtney Sullivan, author of the New York Times–bestselling Commencement and co-editor of Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists
“Intimate in its reflections and keenly perceptive on a larger scale, Staal’s erudite literary memoir refreshingly embraces women’s eternal quest for self-knowledge.” —Booklist
“A swift, enchanting, and informative sweep through the feminist canon.” —Debora Spar, president of Barnard College and author of The Baby Business: How Money, Science, and Politics Drive the Commerce of Conception
“Fresh, funny, and a wise reminder that now, more than ever, we need to feed the feminist within.” —Katie Crouch, author of the New York Times–bestselling Girls in Trucks
The Love They Lost: Living with the Legacy of Our Parents’ Divorce (Delta, 2001) ia a personal history of, by, and for the first generation of divorce. Drawing on extensive interviews with 120 adult children of divorce, The Love They Lost gives voice to a generation’s struggle to reconcile the emotional blueprints their parents left them with the lives they want to build as adults. Weaving reporting and memoir, storytelling and social observation, The Love They Lost is essential reading for every adult child of divorce who longs to make peace with the past and build a rewarding life — and for everyone who cares about the future of the American family. The book has been featured in Time, People, USA Weekend, Christian Science Monitor, The Washington Post, CNN, Lifetime, WNYC, among others.
Praise for The Love They Lost:
“Haunting … this is the book all parents — divorced and married — should read.” The Washington Post
“An important work that sheds new light on the faces of an American generation.” Kirkus Reviews
“Anyone contemplating divorce, or marriage for that matter, will think twice about the health and well-being of their children over the long haul after reading this intensely personal examination … this cohesive and thoughtful commentary offers a sense of hope.” Publishers Weekly
“A realistic yet inspiring look at the impact of divorce.” Dallas Morning News
“Well-crafted, insightful, and informative, Staal’s story is more interesting than most novels.” Paul R. Amato, co-author of A Generation at Risk
“A groundbreaking book that may well become a classic. It says important things, and it is beautifully written. It is difficult to put down … Buy This Book.” Psychiatric Services (American Psychiatric Association)
“It’s not surprising that the wisest words on divorce may come from a child of divorce herself.” USA Weekend
