What is midlife? A point of existential and psychological crisis? The threshold to our inevitable decline into old age and redundancy? A time of emotional volatility, depression and hormonal upheaval? So much of the medical and media coverage would have us believe.

In this book I take a compassionate look at the challenges presented to us, men, women and non-binary folk alike, by our arrival at this major point of transition in adult life. Extending life expectancy and advances in medical science have given us many more years to life than was once the norm. The concept of the 'midlife crisis' wasn't even invented until the mid-1960s. Yet today, most of us in our mid-50s can expect another 30 to 40 years of life. Most of us retire from fulltime employment in our late 60s. We have many more years to live, and much still to contribute to society and to our families. These are indeed years to be lived to the full.

In these short vignettes I show how midlife can be a story not of decline and disintegration but renewal, revival and new beginnings.

 

Yes, the menopause exacts a heavy toll on many women; yes, men also find their accustomed physical strength and social status challenged by their changing hormones. But alongside, there is so much we can add to the years of life ahead.