This collection is an outstanding work bringing together 22 contributed essays by family therapy theorists and practitioners on the subject of women and women s issues. . . . These writings reveal abundant creativity and enormous scope. The volume is fertile, articulate, and absorbing . . . . It should be mandatory reading in every family training curriculum in the country. Smith College Studies in Social Work"

Most of these women did not intend to be single at midlife. Yet they have given up the dream of "happily ever after" to create lives on their own that are rich and rewarding. The authors share these women's stories as well as their practical advice on managing the mechanics of being single, transforming loneliness, redefining the place of work, developing friendship and support networks, living with and without intimacy and sex with men, and choosing to have and raise children. In the process they define not just a new American lifestyle but a new American Dream