The Empress Book Club Reveal: One Midlife Woman's Adventures in Pleasure!
Our June pick from Glynnis MacNicol proves midlife is only just the beginning.
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Fellow Empresses, Happy Tuesday…
How the hell are you?
Much has been happening here, behind the scenes with the establishment of our new 501c(3) The Institute for Women’s Futures dedicated to promoting greater cultural visibility, socioeconomic power, and state-of-the-art healthcare for midlife women.
That said, we also know you may need some quality escapist joy amid this all-systems, full-body transformation, hence our June book club pick!
I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself: One Woman’s Pursuit of Pleasure in Paris
From the publisher:
When you’re a woman of a certain age, you are only promised that everything will get worse. But what if everything you’ve been told is a lie?
Come to Paris, in August 2021, when the City of Lights was still empty of tourists and a thirst for long-overdue pleasure gripped those who wandered its streets.
After New York City emptied out in March 2020, Glynnis MacNicol, aged forty-six, unmarried with no children, spent sixteen months alone in her tiny Manhattan apartment. The isolation was punishing. A year without touch. Women are warned of invisibility as they age, but this was an extreme loneliness no one can prepare you for. When the opportunity to sublet a friend’s apartment in Paris arose, MacNicol jumped on it. Leaving felt less like a risk than a necessity.
What follows is a decadent, joyful, unexpected journey into one woman’s pursuit of radical enjoyment.
The weeks in Paris are filled with friendship, food, and sex. There is dancing on the Seine; a plethora of gooey cheese; midnight bike rides through empty Paris; handsome men; afternoons wandering through the empty Louvre; and nighttime swimming in the ocean off a French island. And yes, plenty of nudity.
In the spirit of Nora Ephron and Deborah Levy (think Colette . . . if she’d had access to dating apps), I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself is an intimate, insightful, powerful, and endlessly pleasurable memoir of an intensely lived experience whose meaning and insight expand far beyond the personal narrative. MacNicol is determined to document the beauty, excess, and triumph of a life that does not require permission.
The pursuit of enjoyment is a political act, both a right and a responsibility. Enjoying yourself—as you are—is not something the world tells you is possible, but it is.
Here’s the proof.
And here she is in an interview with one of our favorites, Mary Louise Kelly, from NPR. But let us know your thoughts below in the comments or jot down questions to discuss with the author herself!
Also, stay tuned for upcoming virtual salons on sleep, sex, and Ask-a-Therapist with dear friend of The Empress, our very own
from , who is just such a gift to the community.Yours in Grandeur & Deep Sh*t,
For more info on the Empress Book Club, its mission, and how it works, click here.
p.s. If you are so inclined, follow us on IG for flash content & upcoming giveaways. We’re at @the.empress.age. We’d love to see you there!
Moving this book to the top of my summer reading list.
Sounds racy and delicious!