I recently had surgery turning me into a hag, un infertile woman, so this felt like the perfect book to read. I loved all the folklore and stories about elderly women. In some way it rekindled my love for old stories and myths. I want to read more. I really liked all the "shed the old, embrace the new", the rebirth into a different sort of being, the hag (with an attitude). Please find below the audio versions of a few of my retellings and reimaginings of stories about older women. My husband David Knowles and I founded literary publisher Two Ravens Press (now under new ownership) in 2006, and in 2012 launched EarthLines Magazine, a full-colour print publication for writing about nature, place and the environment.

In her trademark mythopoetic style of writing sharing deeply researched folk legends from our very own British Isles, and with a wild and deep attachment to these lands she inhabits, this book will remind you of just how powerful and transformative this midlife journey we are in truly is. In the oldest known cosmology of my native lands, it wasn't a sky-bound old man with a beard who made and shaped this world. It was an old woman. A giant old woman, who has been with us down all the long ages, since the beginning of time.' This dynamic book sets out an approach to ageing, that is not about staying at all costs young but instead advocates harnessing your power, learning from myths, archetypes and role models, and plotting a liberating new path to an elder (as opposed to elderly) woman. Bring on inconvenience, I say.’Author of A Wild Soul Woman and Reclaiming the Wild Soul, a 2015 Nautilus Award-winner, Mary’s writings have also appeared in numerous other publications and anthologies. Through her books, courses, and talks, she reaches creatives, change-makers, and seekers who long to awaken to their most courageous and Earth-connected selves and have the impact they desire. Heather will offer an experiential workshop on dance movement medicine for the embodied elder. All movement at your own pace and interpretation. Yet again, a book meant solely for women that caters to trans-identified males. This book is about MENOPAUSE and the life women live after. Something a male will NEVER have to go through and will NEVER understand. I loved this book up until chapter 12, when she prattles on about trans-identified males and their ideas of womanhood (a male can't understand womanhood utside of stereotypes and sexist media) which has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE POINT OF THE BOOK!! She also cites the UK organisation "Mermaids" which has been recently proven to use fake statistics, overtly lie to children, actively encourage medical/surgical intervention to minors, and uphold very regressive ideas of gender roles (stereotypical femininity = woman, stereotypical masculinity = man). Any credibility she had as a "feminist" or pro-women is gone. Manda Scott has spent a lifetime combining spirituality, creativity and activism. From her earliest novels, through the Boudica series and beyond, her writing has always had a subtext, available to those who wanted to access it. Since the early years of the new millennium, she has taught shamanic dreaming, always with a focus of action out in the world: ‘What do you want of me?’ is the core question – and in her personal experience, has always led to deeper connection to the web of life combined with more concrete action in the world. If you’re standing on the threshold of menopause and looking for support to navigate this intense and transformative alchemical journey, this program is for you.

Then she reports that even a lesbian (gasp!) shared her views, as though finding one person in a more marginalized group who shares your views to bolster your own absolves you of your intolerance. The compelling points that are made in this book also lose their oomph. I listened to the audiobook version and the last two and a half hours just dragged on with the author stating the same ideas over and over again.

This book is full of interesting ideas, but also full of old school feminism that leaves little room for trans women, or women who don’t make the same choices as the author. It often came across as arrogant to me, in a way I found off-putting. When she mentioned that no experience is as transformative as having cancer, I wanted to scream “And you’d know this how?” She’s never had kids. Never have a spouse of a child die. Never done lots of things. I just personally can’t stand when people assume their little t truth is everyone’s Capital T TRUTH. Rant over. For now.