Reinventing Ourselves After Motherhood: How Former Career Women Refocus Their Personal and Professional [Paperback]

Susan Lewis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2000

Author Susan E. Lewis explores the hows and whys of making the decision to halt or alter a career--and the professional, social, and emotional ramifications that may result.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Contemporary Books (April 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809223759
• ISBN-13: 978-0809223756
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,537,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not the life we expected when our careers came first . . ., April 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Reinventing Ourselves After Motherhood: How Former Career Women Refocus Their Personal and Professional Lives After the Birth of a Child (Hardcover)

When I walked away from a prestigious, well paid career a decade ago, I knew it was merely in order to take a "sabbatical." With two young children, I feared I might lack the stamina to launch into a new position in the investment industry, where I'd spent the prior 17 years. When they were in school all day . . . that would be the time to jump in again . . . Skip to 1999. I've not yet jumped back in, but I've learned a tremendous amount about paid work vs. volunteer work and how a frantic pace compares with a busy, but manageable, workaday stride. I've learned that there are still pointless and destructive preconceptions on both sides of the working/non-working mother issue. Though I felt somewhat unique during the early years of this transition, I apparently had plenty of company. Susan Lewis, author of "Reinventing Ourselves after Motherhood" was obviously sharing my experience. She, however, took the time to write a wonderful book about all of us who grew up post-feminist revolution and tremendously conflicted about work/family choices. Through her own often amusing and always insightful anecdotes, and through her gleanings from scores of interviews with mothers of all ages, she has come up with a highly readable narrative. Unlike so many others who've written on the topic, however, Lewis succeeds in evenhandedness. She knows the path she's taken is probably best for her, but doesn't insist that everyone else should be tagging along. This book should be of interest to a wide range of readers, including both mothers at home and mothers at work. (A few enlightened fathers might even be induced to have a look!) It might be most valuable to young women who know these life-altering choices lie just ahead. A satisfying read.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book I've read on motherhood yet, February 1, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Reinventing Ourselves After Motherhood: How Former Career Women Refocus Their Personal and Professional (Paperback)

How I wish I could give this book ten stars! If you're tired of hearing about the Mommy Wars and want to read about women who've somehow managed to balance work and motherhood, this is the book for you. Susan Lewis clearly is coming from the assumption that we all love our kids, and we all have unique gifts to present to the world, but unfortunately the reality is that we live in a culture that doesn't have a lot of respect for parenthood--or for women's choices, for that matter. You know how it goes--if you stay home with the kids, you're an underachiever; if you have a full time job, you're self-centered, if you work part-time so that you can be there for your kids, well you have to be screwing up both jobs then, right? :) Lewis interviewed ten women like herself, all of whom gave up full-time high-powered careers to spend time with their children. Some downshifted to part time, some switched to a less demanding career, some just gave up a career altogether. What these women have to say about the decisions they made really surprised me and inspired me, and often made me laugh. Lewis herself cracked me up with her descriptions of being available for monosyllabic teenage boys, or being humbled by her utter failure at baking a batch of brownies from a mix.
I also think this would be a great book for any young woman who wants to "have it all" to read. It really does give a realistic picture of both worlds, work and home, and helps you think think creatively, and sensibly (love how Lewis, before she got pregnant, thought that the first year of her baby's life would be a great time to sail around the world!). Yes, combining motherhood and career can be done, but as these women show, you've got to be creative, you've got to be true to your instincts, and you shouldn't give a hoot about whether you've got a glamorous enough self-description to impress people at cocktail parties!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you're a new mom and an old "professional", read this!, March 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Reinventing Ourselves After Motherhood: How Former Career Women Refocus Their Personal and Professional Lives After the Birth of a Child (Hardcover)

If you are struggling with how to manage your career AND love your baby AND nurture your family, read this book! It's like talking to a best friend who understands who you were before you had a baby and what you feel now. I am still struggling with "what to do next"...this book empowered me to do what's best for me (not based on anyone else's "should do's").

Ms. Lewis has a great writing style...easy to read with thoughtful stories. I stay up late at night (or get up before the baby wakes up) just to get another chapter read.