The Big M
13 Writers Take Back the Story of Menopause
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Jan 27, 2026
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
For readers of Kink and What My Mother and I Don't Talk About, an anthology from a bestselling author that redefines the way we think about menopause—"leaves you feeling informed, empowered, and more connected to yourself and others on the journey" (Nedra Glover Tawwab, New York Times bestselling author of Set Boundaries, Find Peace).
This is narrative medicine at its finest: Lidia Yuknavitch and 12 of today’s sharpest, most daring writers break the silence. They are here to reclaim the story of menopause—for all of us and those on the way, because we are not the story they made of us. This is a new story, told on our own terms—a long overdue reckoning.
Exploring themes of freedom and mortality, sexuality and the patriarchy, The Big M is a chorus of voices, each writer navigating the profound changes in their bodies and lives in their own fiercely individual way. Funny, subversive, insightful, and deeply human, these stories form a living constellation—one you might take into your life in times of duress, transformation, or awakening.
The Big M includes work from a diverse group of influential writers, including: Roxane Gay, Cheryl Strayed, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, Reyna Grande, Joey Soloway, Nana-Ama Danquah, Gina Frangello, Monica Drake, Lan Samantha Chang, Julia Alvarez, Darcey Steinke, and Pam Houston.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Novelist and memoirist Yuknavitch (Reading the Waves) presents moving essays on the many shades of menopause from a blockbuster lineup of writers, including Julia Alvarez, Roxane Gay, and Cheryl Strayed. The pieces highlight the secrecy and shame typically associated with the end of one's reproductive years, position the biological transition as a rite of passage that signals a new stage of life, and critique the pressure put on women to keep the signs of aging at bay. Strayed delivers a meditation on living longer than her mother, who died at 45, reflecting that, throughout the hot flashes, brain fog, and insomnia brought on by perimenopause, "I never forgot my luck. What a gift it was, to simply be there." In "Finding Meno: Little Clowns," Monica Drake juxtaposes the indignities of divorce court with the discomforts of menopausal symptoms to illustrate how patriarchal systems cause women to loathe their bodies and themselves. Yuknavitch caps off the collection with "Transmogrify," in which she compares aging to the magical transformations that happen to characters in fairy tales, encouraging readers to view menopause as a "portal" to a place where "we can be anything." These penetrating and lyrical reflections bring serious cultural analysis to a historically taboo subject. Readers experiencing menopause will find solidarity and hope.
