Writing Single Life: A Manifesto for the Bold and Fearless

I read 7 engaging memoirs by single women. One of them was a masterpiece — an unapologetic embrace of single life that was equal to the moment of what it means to be single in the 21st century.

I’m a social scientist and for two decades, I have been conducting and inhaling research on single life. Results from the most sophisticated studies show that over that time period, single people have become more and more enthusiastic about their single lives. And, in defiance of all stereotypes, people who stay single grow even happier as they age. As they sail past their early and middle adult years, women in particular have three cultural strikes against them — they are old, they are single, and they are women — and yet, they are thriving.

Throughout the 21st century, I have been in search of memoirs that show how far single women have come. I wanted to read the life stories of women who are living in blissful defiance of the fairy tales about marriage and children. I wanted to hear from single women who never did swallow the mythology that popular culture and even some serious thinkers were selling, that only by marrying and having children would they be truly happy and deeply fulfilled.

My quest got off to a rocky start, with three memoirs that were beautifully written and full of insights. All…