Originally published: 1 March 2018

Author: Various

Published by: Penguin Life

Genre: Self Help

Length: 192 pages

Reading dates: 28-30 July & 6 September 2019

If you could share one lesson from your life with every woman, what would it be?

Stylist magazine has asked that question of remarkable women from the worlds of entertainment, politics, sport and fashion. With honesty, wit and a serious no-BS attitude, their lessons address the challenges every woman faces today, from climbing the career ladder and finding inner fulfilment, to forging authentic relationships and overcoming life’s setbacks.

What a marvellous little book!  A collection of 25 short essays, this is a book every woman should read and have on their shelves!  Some of the “Life Lessons” that immediately piqued my interest were You’re Not the Worst Mum in the World by Robyn Wilder, The Power of Saying “No” by Reni Eddo-Lodge (need to work harder at this one!) and Eleven Stories About Grief by Anna Fielding.  All these essays are great pieces of inspirational advice and at 3-4 pages long, they are easily digestible.

This book has sat on my shelves for a while – I generally prefer fiction but I was about to go on holiday and didn’t want to be halfway through a book as we left and this was ideal to keep me occupied for a couple of days before we went and to pick up again when we returned home.

This is the sort of book I think every woman should own – not all of the essays will be relevant to every woman but as we go through our lives, I think most will be useful at some point or other.  It is a book I would give to my daughters if I had them!  Instead I plan to share it with my nieces and friends’ grown up children and hope they learn a little something about how to be strong independent women from these remarkable writers!

Many thanks to Penguin Life for sending me a copy as part of an Instagram promotion last year.

Contents:

1. Why having it all is a myth by Lisa Smosarski
2. The joy of starting over by Bobbi Brown
3. The art of loving yourself by Laura Jane Williams
4. Be honest – even when it hurts by Nimko Ali
5. Why alcohol is not a replacement for love by Tanya Gold
6. Be your own best friend by Claro Amfo
7. How to live with someone without killing them by Lucy Mangan
8. You can’t choose who you are by Jo Clifford
9. Say sod it and take a risk by Jess Phillips
10. Finding hope in times of despair by Christina Lamb
11. Six things I’ve learned about love by Alix Fox
12. Embrace your own ambition by Roxane Gay
13. No one has the right to touch your hair by Hannah Azieb Pool
14. Anyone can learn to be confident by Katie Piper
15. Why 99% of advice can be ignored by Nina Stibbe
16. Eleven stories about grief by Anna Fielding
17. You’re not the worst mum in the world by Robyn Wilder
18. Only you set the bar for your own goals by Nicola Adams
19. The important of trivial pursuits by Pandora Sykes
20. Don’t be afraid to be unpopular by Romola Garai
21. What you only know if you’ve had a nervous breakdown by Bella Younger
22. Never make assumptions about anyone by Susan Riley
23. The power of saying no by Reni Eddo-Lodge
24. The five questions everyone needs to ask themselves by Poorna Bell
25. Give normality a kick in the arse by Francesca Martinez