Others Like Me
The Lives of Women Without Children
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
'A must-read for everyone' Stylist
'Tender, emotive and quietly revelatory' Irish Times
'Distinctive, original . . . Louie's approach to childless lives is thoughtful and empathetic' Caroline Magennis, author of Harpy: A Manifesto for Childfree Women
Who are you? What does your life look like? Did you choose this, or did it happen to you? How do you spend your time? And your energy? And your money? Are you happy? Are you scared? Are you lonely? Do you regret not having kids? If yes, why? If not, why not?
Others Like Me is the story of fourteen women around the world, from different walks of life, who don't have children. It's also the story of why Nicole Louie had to find them and what they taught her. Part memoir, part exploration of childlessness through candid conversations, this book showcases the many ways in which people find fulfilment outside of parenthood. And because the social expectation to procreate weighs the most on women, Louie focuses solely on them, their experiences and how they flourish outside of motherhood. In doing so, she upends the stereotypes that diminish women who are not mothers and offers reassurance and companionship on a path less known.
'Deeply felt and deeply researched, books like this will help women decide what is right for them' Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of Harmless Like You
'An uplifting read about finding fulfilment outside of motherhood' The Gloss
'With candour and self-reflection, Louie takes us on her journey to a deeper understanding of wanting a life that does not include motherhood' Laura Carroll, author of The Baby Matrix
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Essayist Louie debuts with an introspective memoir exploring her decision not to have children and recapping the stories of other women who made the same choice. Louie presents brief, stylized first-person vignettes drawn from interviews with 14 other childless women, who offer up an intriguing range of rationales—among them a lack of maternal urge, a passion for other experiences, asexuality, their own difficult upbringings, and medical conditions—as well as sharp insights into both childlessness and parenthood ("There is of course more freedom without children, but being single takes a lot of time in other ways. Everything is done by one person, there is no sharing of responsibilities... I sometimes wonder if those who are parents are truly selfless"; "I do wonder how this is going to affect me in the future... I try to save money. For better or for worse, we live in a capitalist society, so a part of me thinks, Well, if I have money, I'll probably be all right"). However, the lion's share of the book is devoted to Louie's own experiences—including the dissolution of her marriage, partly due to conflict over having a child—which are narrated in a far more sprawling and less refined way, making for a jarring contrast that is also short on insight. Readers will be left unsatisfied.
