Cracking the Menopause: While Keeping Yourself Together

Product Information

This meticulously researched book looking at all aspects of the stages of the menopause (before, during and after) is told in a frank and often very sarcastic manner, which took a bit of getting used to, but I enjoyed by the end. Mariella Frostup gives her personal experience in each chapter, but they also include the voices of lots of different women, and some men, and this helped to show how diverse an experience it can be. There is so much information here, that it can be a lot to take in, but I plan to get a hard copy (having enjoyed the audiobook) so that I can use it as a reference book too. And it does it in a light-hearted way without dumbing down and without emphasising one factor or treatment over others. It is a thorough, complete guide that is a delight to read. Anyone who reads it will come away with new information and a fresh insight into the state of menopause today.

Good taste. But we’re still waiting for a #KnowYourMenopause selfie… Isn’t it just another celebrity menopause book? Regular readers will know I’m a huge fan of Mariella Frostrup and I learnt some important lessons from her documentary The Truth About Menopause in the early days of my “journey” (yes, I know. I hate that word too.) So it’s fair to say my ears perked up when I heard she was writing a book. Overall I would say the beginning of this book is a helpful exploration of menopause but for details of the full range of symptoms and an inclusive way of managing them, I would suggest you look elsewhere, although our search for that may be continuing. It’s high time we renovated and elevated this life change. Despite the centuries of speculation and propaganda, we are not overheating or inherently cold, we are not hysterics or boiling vats of toxic poisons, we are not dried up or washed up, we are simply menopausal.

Summary

This is an intelligent, well-researched and comprehensive book that will get you rethinking what the menopause it and what life looks like during and after it. Starting with a fascinating account of how our views about the menopause have been formed over centuries (largely by men), we start to understand why there are so many preconceptions and misinformed views in society.

I inhaled this book, it's fantastic. Women of all ages need to read it. It's genuinely helped me understand why I wake up at 5 a.m. and made me laugh along the way. -- Claudia Winkleman In this no-holds-barred guide, Mariella shares her own journey through the menopause, along with the latest science, advice from leading experts and humorous illustrations - to provide an informative source of wisdom and enlightenment. A groundbreaking, no-holds-barred guide to the menopause - that combines a passion to enlighten and inform as well as entertain - from inimitable broadcaster, writer and campaigner Mariella Frostrup and award-winning health journalist Alice Smellie. I appreciate what the authors are trying to do, raise awareness of the menopause, so rating this is problematic because it was so boring, it could have been way shorter with bullet points, my eyes kept slipping ahead; significantly.I was wary about two authors – generally a journalist is hired to rewrite support the celebrity. But Mariella is a respected journo in her own right and having the two voices works well. It’s like a signpost to “Fact” and “Experience” rather than becoming blended into one. And one thing I’ve found in MenoLand is that anecdote and feelings are quite often read as “data” so there is a clear difference here. Mariella Frostrup is one of the UK's most respected broadcasters and columnists. Her contribution to arts and literature along with her advocacy on gender and social issues have placed her at the forefront of the cultural landscape. She made the groundbreaking BBC1 documentary The Truth About the Menopause and she currently presents her own daily show on Times Radio covering issues of the day, from arts and culture to politics. She lives in Somerset with her husband and two children.