Single

Living a Complete Life on Your Own Terms

By: Nicola Slawson

Narrated by: Nicola Slawson

An empowering, comforting, and honest exploration of single life, in all its facets

In her thirties and single, journalist Nicola Slawson was sick of reading narratives about how all single women must be miserable and desperate. She wanted stories that reflected her experience, so she started The Single Supplement, a newsletter for single women that didn’t patronize them or assume that their only goal in life was finding a partner. The newsletter immediately took off, gaining thousands of followers and winning awards and features. Now Slawson is ready to cement everything she’s learned into a book.

Using her personal experiences along with insights gleaned from years of interviews, Slawson offers us an open, witty, and warmhearted exploration of single life, taking an honest look at its challenges but just as keenly celebrating its joys. She writes about feeling left behind and navigating friendships as people get married and have children; managing personal finances, career, ambition, and self-reliance; deciding whether or not to be a single mother; dealing with the shame and stigma of being single; embracing the freedom and happiness that can be found in being single; and so much more.

A vibrant life is within reach for all of us, with or without a partner. Whether you are single long term, recently, keen not to be, happy to be, considering becoming, voluntarily, involuntarily, and so on, Single is an optimistic companion, providing comfort, hope, and understanding to anyone who reads it. It is a reminder that you are not alone, you have what it takes to handle life’s challenges, and you deserve to squeeze as much joy as you can out of your life right now, instead of feeling like you’re waiting for it to start.

Not much here and she’s speaking to a very narrow audience

more of a feminist manifesto than ideas on moving on in the single life. Lots of railing against the patriarchy, and I think part of it is misguided as she leaves off the matriarchy- it’s societal. yes, men have to answer for a lot of this, but she seems to think the answer for all of it. Women play a part in sustaining patriarchal attitudes, including their own double standards for men. And it’s pressured by other women on women that are the root of many of the issues she assigned to men only. She also seems incapable of making herself vulnerable, which would be essential for her to actually move onto a relationship. All in all, not really worth the time.