Fortytude

January 10, 2011
According to Brokaw, a therapist and daughter of the former NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw, turning 40 can present women with a beautiful opportunity for powerful self-reflection and self-improvement. Making the most of this critical milestone takes a kind of strength that Brokaw calls "fortytude," and she identifies five core values—grace, connectedness, accomplishment, adventure, and spirituality—that can help women thrive as they navigate the journey from age 35 onwards. She profiles American women from different walks of life: an overweight Wisconsin nurse, resolving to live her own life more fully after her sister's suicide, undergoes gastric bypass surgery; a California ceramics artist is inspired by her daughter to accept her small breast size; a brigadier general who mentors other women through the difficulties of military life and the horrors of war. Brokaw, a single woman, decides to freeze her eggs, a decision that enabled her to stop searching frantically for a partner; and a television producer honors her late mother by raising money online for nonprofit organizations. Although Brokaw's advice is helpful and inspirational, it is also generic and familiar.

December 15, 2010

User-friendly guide for women who have entered that dreaded midlife decade and need reassurance about dealing with it.

With the assistance of Fox (co-author: Sexual Fitness, 2000), California-based therapist Brokaw proposes that embracing five core values—grace, connectedness, accomplishment, adventure and spirituality—gives women the strength (the "fortytude") they need to succeed at this stage of life. To reach this conclusion, she interviewed a wide variety of women across the United States, ranging in age from late 30s to early 50s. After an upbeat introduction in which the author urges women to think of life's challenges not as problems but as "sparkling moments," she explains what is meant by each of the five core values and introduces women who personify them. To demonstrate grace, she talks about women accepting their less-than-perfect appearance and aging gracefully. The section on connectedness explores women's friendships with other women and with intimate partners, mentoring relationships with younger women and one's relationship with oneself; accomplishment includes single mothers and stay-at-home mothers as well as career women. In discussing adventure, Brokaw discusses women who have reinvigorated their sex lives, changed careers and found new partners, but she also counsels that small changes, such as trying a new recipe or listening to different music, can bring adventure into a life that has become dulled by routine. The author is less successful in her discussion of spirituality, which boils down to some sort of vague inner peace. The text has a homey tone, and the author personalizes her message with stories from her own life and that of family members. As an aid to readers, she includes checklists and exercises that she has used in her therapy practice.

This innocuous, easy-to-read addition to the self-help literature for women comes with the advantage of the author's famous surname—she is the daughter of newscaster Tom Brokaw—which may give readers an extra measure of confidence in her advice. 

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

February 15, 2011
Through her experience in leading discussion groups with women nationwide, licensed therapist Brokaw knows that women who travel through midlife most easily are those who've fostered five core values—grace, connectedness, accomplishment, adventure, and spirituality—which empower them to be their most authentic and actualized selves. Thankfully, Brokaw's message does not consist of clichés and conventional advice. She provides short biographies of women who have overcome the odds to achieve well-being and satisfaction. The chapters validating stay-at-home moms and stepmothers will be particularly appreciated in those demographics. Inspirational for those a decade or two below and beyond forty.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.