Secret Paths Women in the New Midlife

"A lot has been written lately about how women come into their own around the age of 50. Freed from family-career conflicts that plague them through much of their thirties and forties, women in their fifties--with kids and perhaps even a husband out of the house--display an energy and focus that eluded them earlier on. What hasn't been written about much is the Sturm und Drang that often precedes that pivotal stage. In her new book, psychologist Terry Apter takes a lively look at what is often a time of crisis for women as they approach 40--a rocky but necessary stage before they hit their stride....Getting there...wasn't easy. Apter engagingly outlines the steps these women went through as they disentangled themselves from previous lives and set new goals, often making tradeoffs that led them away from a comfortable lifestyle or long-held career plans. While some women Apter interviewed got stuck--and couldn't recover from the loss of their looks--most of them emerged at midlife with skills that let them live the second half of their lives on their own terms."Apter, Terri is the author of 'Secret Paths Women in the New Midlife' with ISBN 9780393315004 and ISBN 0393315002.