#BlogTour ‘Self-Contained’ by Emma John

About the book…

There is a piece of cod-wisdom regularly dispensed to single women: romance will arrive when you least expect it. I had assumed it would also make its own travel arrangements too.

Emma John is in her 40s; she is neither married, nor partnered, with child or planning to be.

In her hilarious and unflinching memoir, Self Contained, she asks why the world only views a woman as complete when she is no longer a single figure and addresses what it means to be alone when everyone else isn’t.

In her book, she captures what it is to be single in your forties, from sharing a twin room with someone you’ve never met on a group holiday (because the couples have all the doubles with ensuite) to coming to the realisation that maybe your singleness isn’t a temporary arrangement, that maybe you aren’t pre-married at all, and in fact you are self-contained.

The book is an exploration of being lifelong single and what happens if you don’t meet the right person, don’t settle down with the wrong person and realise the biggest commitment is to yourself.

My thanks to Charlotte at Lovereading for the invite, and publishers Octopus Books for my gifted review copy of ‘Self-Contained’ which is out in e-book now, and hardcover in September.

This book is a memoir, drawing on real life scenarios from holidays with platonic male friends (and the ensuing reaction from family and friends), to wedding parties, engagements and other social occasions where that question comes up.

‘Are you with somebody?’

Sigh. I remember it well. Being treated as if you, as a single person, were somehow less than the sum of the whole that you are with another person.

Coupledom.

Reproduction.

The ultimate goal, the smug looks when people say ‘when you meet the one, you will change your mind.’

MAHOOSIVE sigh.

But this is not an angry book. It is not a judgemental book. It doesn’t rail against those people who look down on/pity the singles, it is an extremely well written, and erudite exploration of the modern life of a single woman. And it is a bloody good one.

What Emma does so very succinctly is skewer the perceptions of a patriarchal society that seeks to define you by the parameters it sets.

A life is no less worthy because it is flown solo.

And it is no less hilarious and moving.

I loved it and, no matter where you are in your relationship with yourself, or a partner, this book has so  much to offer its readers.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend this unreservedly.

About the author…

Emma John is an award-winning author and journalist who writes regularly for the Guardian and Observer. Emma was the first woman to win a Sports Journalism Award in the UK, though she is known for her writing on music, theatre, film, books and travel.

Creator and host of the Guardian‘s cricket podcast The Spin, Emma is a regular voice on national radio, appearing on documentaries and comedy shows on BBC R4, as well as providing sports analysis for BBC Radio5Live and talkSPORT. Her previous books include ‘Wayfaring Stranger:A Musical Journey In The American South’ and ‘Following On:A Memoir Of Teenage Obsession and Terrible Cricket”

Links-http://www.emmajohn.net/self-contained

Twitter @lovereadinguk @Octopus_Books @em_john