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This guide for women going through a divorce is based on personal experiences. Finding herself as a single mother with a single income in New York City was not only a blow to Bodden’s ego and a challenge to her fortitude but also provided food for the “Five Stages of Divorce Grief”—denial, anger/pain/fear, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. She had to learn to love herself, even to the point of “solo” dating and trips to new and unexplored places to reset her perspective. Moving to a quiet town was a first big step, for though it was not the lifestyle she craved, she had to recognize that it was more appropriate to her new circumstances. Her “aha moment”—that which brought her true fulfillment—was discovering her talent as a writer. In addition to finding and using one’s real strengths, she recommends starting a journal, practicing gratefulness, and making connections with friends old and new.
Bodden’s well-organized book is written with conviction. She empathizes with women facing divorce and its many consequences—time spent in court, financial fights, child custody issues, new career exploration—because she has dealt with these painfully important matters herself. She offers well-considered suggestions: how to recognize if one’s depression has reached a danger point; making an emotional self-examination; being mindful of one’s physical well-being; and, above all, learning to like oneself and recoup lost self-esteem. She expertly discusses from several angles the reasons why it is so difficult to find the enduring love we’ve been programmed to long for. Bodden makes a logical linkage between her divorce trauma and her determination to launch herself into a new career as a blogger and author. Her story, along with the salient advice she offers, can provide courage for women involved in this difficult stage of life.