The Middlepause

‘Lucid and sophisticated … A restrained but wonderful guide to the convulsive changes of 50 and over … This is a book that yields valuable insights on almost every page.’

-- Melissa Benn * The Guardian *

‘A 21st-century meditation on middle age … The Middlepause is erudite, with a lengthy list of notes and ideas for further reading, but it is also personal — part memoir, part unflinching travelogue through the unsettling physical and mental challenges of the menopause … Honest and uplifting.’

* FT *
‘Beautifully composed and intensely sympathetic, The Middlepause: On Turning Fifty is wry, personal and intimate, while still being something of a road map for others.’ -- Viv Groskop * The Sunday Telegraph *

‘Women do a lot of things to mark turning fifty. Go to a resort! Have a bang-up party! Far, far better: read The Middlepause.’

* Jill Lepore, author of The Secret History of Wonder Woman *

‘Emotionally honest.’

-- Tom Gatti * New Statesman *

‘We are not supposed to beguile, we the middle-aged women. But with The Middlepause, Marina Benjamin does that: she beguiles and entrances with a lyrical, thoughtful, erudite, and always lucid exploration of the middle years of her life, and what they mean to her, and what middle-aged women mean to society.’

-- Rose George, author of The Big Necessity

‘Beautifully written and so thoughtful, The Middlepause made me think about fleeting time and what is important to me. I couldn’t put it down.’

-- Amy Jenkins, author of Honeymoon and creator of This Life

‘Renunciation, shape-shifting, ennui, sorrow: this tender and thoughtful book calls for an ‘invisible revolution’ in our attitudes to women’s ageing. In a deeply personal meditation Benjamin places body knowledge and luck alongside grieving and family history; intimate reflection with literary exemplar; communion with ghosts sadly close to the painful real. The Middlepause is a wise, lucid and beautiful plea for more candid discussion of the time-wrought transformations of the female body.’

-- Gail Jones, author of A Guide to Berlin

‘Intimate, open-hearted, clever and kind, this book is a companion which, by naming the shadow fears, finds the truer gold.’

-- Jay Griffiths, author of Kith

‘A candid and beautifully written “wrinkles and all” meditation on the middle years with all their dilemmas and challenges … [Marina Benjamin] seeks a new vision of how to be middle-aged happily and harmoniously without sentiment or delusion.’

-- Caroline Sanderson * The Bookseller *

‘A candid look at what it means to be 50 today … Warm, wise and beautifully written.’

* Good Housekeeping *

‘This is a measured and beautifully written critique of menopause and middle age that pre-, mid-, and postmenopausal women will find eminently relatable, and that those who love and care for them will likewise appreciate.’

* Publishers Weekly *

‘Benjamin takes us into her inner world — it’s instructive, and very moving.’

-- William Leith * Evening Standard *

‘Full of insight.’

-- Eleanor Mills * Sunday Independent *

‘In The Middlepause Benjamin deftly and brilliantly examines the losses and unexpected gains she experienced in menopause. Menopause is a mind and body shift as monumental and universal as puberty, yet far less often discussed, especially in public, which is what makes Benjamin’s work here so urgently necessary.’

-- Kate Tuttle * The Los Angeles Times *

‘Benjamin takes the process of self–help thoughtfully. For starters, to recognise change, rather than deny it, is to begin to deal with it.’

-- Iain Finlayson * Saga Magazine *

‘This gentle but honest book should be standard reading for friends and loved–ones of women trying to make sense of this transitional stage in life.’

-- Sue Wright * The Malcontent *

‘The Middlepause isn't some deluding self–help book that insists middle–age is a time of great growth for us all. It’s an accurate and thoughtful assessment of the credit and debit sheet, and it remains emotionally genuine throughout … This is a thoughtful, compassionate and wise book.’

* Shiny New Boo