On Being 40(ish)

In the vein of The Bitch in the House, fifteen powerful women offer captivating, intimate, and candid explorations about what it’s really like turning forty—and life beyond. 

The big 4-0. Like eighteen and twenty-one, this is a major and meaningful milestone our lives—especially for women. Turning forty is a poignant doorway between youth and…what comes after; a crossroads to reflect on the roads taken and not and the paths yet before you. And the decade that follows is one that is especially ripe for nostalgia, inspiration, wisdom, and personal growth.

In this dazzling collection, fifteen writers explore this rich phase in essays that are profound and moving and above all, brimming with joie de vivre. This diverse array of voices—including Veronica Chambers, Meghan Daum, Kate Bolick, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Sloane Crosley, KJ Dell’Antonia, Julie Klam, Jessica Lahey, Catherine Newman, Sujean Rim, Jena Schwartz, Sophfronia Scott, Allison Winn Scotch, Lee Woodruff, and Jill Kargman—offer exciting, deeply personal, and poignant perspectives across a range of universal themes—friendship, independence, sex, beauty, aging, wisdom, and the passage of time.

Beautifully designed to make the perfect gift, and to be a treasure to turn to time and time again, On Being 40(ish) reflects the hopes, fears, challenges, and opportunities of a generation. It will leave you inspired, entertained, and comforted that the best is truly yet to come.