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Synopsis (It's a fiction book, so it helps…from Netgalley, the provider of the book for me to review.) It's still as funny and as honest and as relatable. Bizarrely, I found it really moving. When you get these kind of haphazard rom-coms (a genre I will be trademarking) you expect them to be fun and silly and light-hearted. You don't expect to find yourself crying at them, which I did on several occasions. But not always at the sad bits. Yes, there were sad bits and that made me teary, but the pure hope running through the book is so moving too. At its heart, it is a love story, but it has many layers. There's romantic love for current partners, past partners, and lost partners, love for your friends, love for your children, love for strangers, and love for yourself. The first Confessions book was one of my favourites of 2021. It was so original and I absolutely loved it! So I squealed with excitement at being given a copy of the sequel.
In the hilarious and heartfelt follow-up to Confessions of a Forty-Something F##k Up Nell discovers that there's no such thing as having it all figured out. In this instalment, it looks like Nell has her life under control, her ship is sailing smoothly. Maybe she isn’t such a f##k up after all? Or are the wheels about to come off her wagon again? I highly recommend this book, it is for every one of us, for the ‘outcasts’ like me (childfree by choice, gasp!) who try to walk life through a different path than one that is deemed acceptable, or for someone like you who may have achieved the so-called ‘milestones’ in life, is considered a ‘success’ by society but like Nell’s friends in the book may feel like a f-up nonetheless. More Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up" by Alexandra Potter is an absolute gem that had me hooked from the very beginning. Having thoroughly enjoyed the first installment, I was eager to dive into Nell's world once again, and I can confidently say that this sequel did not disappoint. Potter's portrayal of Nell, a never-married, childless, forty-something podcaster and obituary writer, is both hilarious and relatable.A novel for any woman who wonders how the hell she got here, and why life isn't quite how she imagined it was going to be. And who is desperately trying to figure it all out when everyone around them is making gluten-free brownies. But the well-structured story of Nell’s journey into light develops like her podcast, building organically, not forced, as she navigates her gloominess. After deriding trite hashtags and motivational messages, she ends up writing a slew of her own. At the end of each chapter, listing things for which she’s grateful, many are quotable enough for social media posts. (Also, the clever easy-to-miss footnotes are like tiny secret prizes.) In the sequel to the bestselling Confessions of a Forty-Something F##k Up, there are a lot more lessons to be learned, truths to be told, adventures to go on and joys to discover. But first, she has some more confessions... FREE: REGISTER NOW] Why do we need role models of childless elderwomen? Join us for our December 2023 ‘Fireside Wisdom with Childless Elderwoman’ session, Wed 20th December, 8pm Now, we're 2.5 years on from that, I am now 30, and I am 1) still single, 2) still childless, and 3) have no job but still refer to myself as a writer, albeit a failed one when it comes to actually finishing anything.
If you've ever asked yourself "where has the time gone and why does everyone else have it together but me?!", then you'll love this book' A funny and heartfelt novel for any woman who wonders how the hell she got here and why life isn't quite how she imagined it was going to be. Of course, I realize this is just a new stage of life, and one that–if all this midlife stuff is to be believed–I should be embracing. But what if you’re not ready for this new stage? What if you haven’t even reached the old stage yet? Even if you’re not sure about having kids it’s comforting to know you’ve got options. No one wants to be The Woman For Whom Time Ran Out. You want to be the one making the decisions. Sitting on the fence is one thing, but what happens when the fence is taken away from you? Do you jump off joyfully or fall crashing to the floor?” Because Nell is determined. Next year things are going to be very different. It’s time to turn her life around. As Nell navigates the complexities of love, friendship, and self-discovery, I found myself nodding in agreement, pausing to reflect on my own life and decisions. Potter's witty prose and insightful exploration of life's messiness make for an unputdownable read that's both heartwarming and thought-provoking.Mothers & Childless Daughters – a very hot topic for our next free Fireside Wisdom with Childless Elderwomen webinar All of these pressures and stigmas – aren’t many of them propagated not by men but women, though? “Women do have a competitive streak, but I think that’s in life generally, and on the contrary I have always found them to be very supportive of one another.” I’ve had that title in my head since my late thirties,” says author Alexandra Potter, “when I used to moan to my friends, ‘Oh God, I’m going to be a forty-something f--- up.’ So I really fought for it!” Yet only recently have a broader selection of messy, unfiltered female characters entered the zeitgeist, primarily through our TV screens, with Phoebe Waller-Bridges’s Fleabag, Sara Pascoe’s Out of Her Mind, Katherine Ryan’s The Duchess and Lucy Prebble and Billie Piper’s I Hate Suzie all proving that it is possible for a woman to own both her flaws and failures. No Job - not my fault. Had a job. Enjoyed it. Pandemic came along. Lost job. So instead I say I'm a writer, when really I'm a failed author pleading for someone to read my book.
FREE: REGISTER NOW] Gateway Women Masterclass: ‘Reclaiming Your Childless Festive Season!’– Sat 8th December, 7pm UK (and recorded) Nell’ faces the dilemma that I, and so many other women arriving childless at midlife face. How the hell do we do this when everything around us has prepared us for something different? I will continue to read Alexandra Potter’s books, as from the 3 books I’ve read so far by her, I thinks she does a great job at capturing the trials and tribulations of women in their 40’s. WATCH NOW: Fireside Wisdom with Childless Elderwomen. What does it mean to be a ‘Radical Old Woman?’ [Recorded 21 June 2023]
For me, and I think so many women, there was this expectation that I would have my life sorted by the time I reached 40,” says Potter, 50. “We have to marry, have kids, get the yoga body and the great career. And my girlfriends and I really experienced that pressure through our thirties, when we were made to feel time was running out – that we weren’t allowed to be a mess by the time we hit the big 40.” May 9, 2023 ] ‘Calm After the Storm’ and other treasures to support your childless heart on Mother’s Day Potter’s writing grips you with prose that you’ll remember, this description of routine a prime example - “Routine is a funny old thing. It gets such a bad rap. We think of it as dull and predictable and long to escape. But routine is like a clothes hanger. You hang your days on it and it gives them shape. Without it life has no structure, if you’re not careful it can collapse in a heap on the floor” In this hilarious, un-put-downable follow-up to the bestselling Confessions of a Forty-Something F## k Up, now the basis for the major TV series called Not Dead Yet, there are laugh-out-loud lessons to be learned, truths to be told, adventures to go on and joys to discover. Nell is our forty-something protagonist, she represents so many women, in our different ways. She is intimidated by the yummy mummy brigade, she isn’t proficient at yoga, hates air-kissing and high heels. These character traits tell me she is definitely one of my tribe.
She cites the miscarriage scene in Fleabag as a perfect example of this. “That has happened to friends, who have had one in the toilet at work, for example, and then had to rush into a meeting.” She pauses. “I think it’s very difficult for us to be vulnerable, but when we allow ourselves to be, like Chrissy Teigen did with her miscarriage and then Meghan Markle with her New York Times essay, that’s when we get that real connection – because we’re being honest and real.” I've said it before that I'm not overly fond of books that talk about the pandemic, as I want escapism, I don't want to read about something I lived through. But Alexandra has found a balance here. She's mentioned it - as anyone would if their book is set during that time - but it's not a main plot point. It helps give context to a few things, but the story would equally be as great without it. Watch now] ‘Challenging the Lazy Stereotypes of Childless Women in Fiction and Films’. A free World Childless Week webinar: Thursday 14 September 2023, 7pm BST In this book the pair decide not just to help each other but through their column in a newspaper magazine they’re sharing their experience, humour and common sense with the world in general. I’ll leave you to find out if they both get their happy ever after.. The thing is, no matter how settled you think you are, life always has alternative plans, and Nell's life is no different.Unwittingly, Nell seems to stumble from one incident to another. Grounded in familiar everyday family and work situations, these situations remain plausible despite being a work of fiction. Nell is also utterly relatable as the continual survivor and you can't help but cheer her on.
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