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The Shift
- How I (Lost and) Found Myself After 40 - and You Can Too
- Narrated by: Sam Baker
- Length: 9 hrs
- Categories: Health & Wellness, Aging & Longevity
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Summary
Women over 40 and in their post-fertility years are the most underestimated and ignored demographic in society. In The Shift writer and journalist Sam Baker seeks to empower and give voice to women to create a new narrative.
The essential manifesto for any woman staring the second half of their lives in the face and wondering, WTF is going on?
- Invisible to society now that you're past child-bearing age?
- Tired of being disregarded, overlooked and underestimated?
- Wondering what the hell is happening to your body, mind and internal thermostat?
Women over 40 are the most ignored demographic in society. And yet this is the time when you are likely to have the most freedom, power, confidence and self-knowledge than ever before. Some serious life has been lived: there have been great loves, heartbreaks, births, marriages, careers, betrayals, bereavements and survival.
So what now? What happens when the narrative given to you by society - husband, babies, house - runs out and you become storyless?
Including chapters on menopause, sex, culture, work, rage and freedom, writer and journalist Sam Baker shares her experiences of life post-40 and shows how women to create their own story. This needn't herald the era of loose clothing and hair dye; or hot flashes and bad sleep (though there is that too). It's time women north of 40 took a leaf out of the millennial handbook and reinvented things our way.
Harness your energy, opinions and power and create a liberating new narrative for the second half of life.
Critic reviews
"I NEED this book. We ALL need this book! If menopause happened to men, there would be CELEBRATIONS and parties every time one of them completed their change." (Marian Keyes)
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What listeners say about The Shift
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- Lorraine Hawkins
- 19-09-20
Depressing
I am dreading the menopause and middle age - This book made everything 10 times worse. I actually felt very low whenever I had been listening to it and it certainly wasn't for me. The listing & naming of Celebs and what they say/ do didn't inspire me and all in all it is very much the opposite of a feel good book ! I'm not invisible and although the Author tried to put a positive spin on the invisibility of middle age it just made me feel very low - almost as if "That's it - it's over - deal with it as best you can"
I stuck with it to the end but shouldn't have bothered.
3 people found this helpful
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- KRB
- 12-09-20
Frank, honest & compelling
Sam has used lots of real people & their experiences to show the wide range of effects peri menopause & menopause have on women, physically & mentally but each experience is unique. It’s not a self-help book nor is it telling you how to manage but a fascinating insight to what it might feel like to you. It definitely resonated with me. The next challenge for me is making The Shift - my shift!
1 person found this helpful
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- Jane
- 22-02-21
You are not alone
I am reading this whilst struggling with peri menopause. I found the book made me laugh, cry and exclaim out loud in recognition at times. sometimes whilst listening whilst out running .
After reading I felt much more positive about how my body and mind were changing and shifting.
Thats not to say the long nights and mood swings weren't still hard , but I could see positives, I felt mentally stronger .
Sam is right, we do need to make sure our narrative is heard. Warrior Queens unite.