The Best of Both Worlds

August 15, 2016
This soothing if not particularly directive guide from author and part-time consultant Brykman urges mothers to find the much-vaunted work-life balance in part-time work. Part-time employment, she says, is the “ultimate solution” for women who are looking to continue earning income and gaining fulfillment from their careers, but want to work shorter hours to spend more time with their children. According to her, employers are more accommodating of mothers’ schedules now than in the past. Part-time workers are particularly valuable because they can fill in peak hours that the full-time workforce doesn’t want to take. Through dozens of stories detailing the experiences of her interviewees, Brykman talks through the advantages (and disadvantages) of shifting from full- to part-time employment, starting a business, following a passion, networking, and working from home. While she does give some suggestions for finding success, the book is more an attempt to assuage concerns and show readers that they can have what other women have; it includes far more personal experience than data or concrete direction. While readers who are struggling with this question may find Brykman’s work helpful, there’s just not enough solid content to help a mother begin on this path.

November 1, 2016
Written for mothers seeking that notoriously elusive work-life balance, this guide argues adamantly for the value of part-time work. Whether a mother is working full-time or not at all, Brykman (Second Wind: The Resilience of Women, 2012) believes the transition to the part-time working world is not as impossible as one might think. Brykman's strategies are culled from the experiences of more than 100 part-time working mothers, from accountants to Jazzercise instructors, and she covers such topics as scaling back from full-time work, starting your own business, returning to the workforce with no professional contacts, and finding the right child care for your situation. The author operates on the assumption that most working mothers are married with a husband available for support, which limits the scope, however. While there is nothing especially groundbreaking about Brykman's latest, the treasury of anecdotes from women who found creative solutions to their employment woes could serve as good therapy for mothers who have already switched to part-time work or are considering doing so.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)