The All-Important Disclaimer: Though I did receive a free copy of “Childless: A Woman and a Girl in a Man’s World,” the memoir written by Fabiana Formica, this is NOT an advertisement, but an honest book review. I did NOT receive monetary compensation for this post.
Several months ago, Fabiana Formica asked if I would review her memoir, “Childless: A Woman and a Girl in a Man’s World.” Committed to supporting fellow childless and always looking for new resources for our community, I agreed. Full transparency… I was supposed to publish this review in June. Life has been hectic lately, however. And healing from my total hysterectomy—both physically and emotionally—has taken longer than I expected. But that’s for another blog. Today, I’d like to share my (belated) thoughts on “Childless: A Woman and a Girl in a Man’s World.” Because though I’m publishing in July, it’s better late than never. Right?
Thoughts on the Memoir by Fabiana Formica
“Childless: A Woman and a Girl in a Man’s World” is broken into four parts, with two different voices—past Fabiana (aka, “Valerie”) and present Fabiana. Though I want to refrain from giving too much of my opinion about Fabiana’s deeply personal memoir, there are five important points I’d like to discuss…
#1: NOT Trigger-free…
First, if you are a regular here at Not So Mommy…, you know that Wobble Warnings are very important to me. I try my absolute best to include them before blogs that contain possible triggers. Books do not include Wobble Warnings, however. So, I want you to know that Fabiana’s memoir is NOT trigger-free. It discusses numerous “heavy” topics including, but not limited to, the following:
- Abortion
- Adultery
- Alcoholism
- Childhood Trauma
- Childlessness
- Dating
- Death
- Divorce
- Faith
- God
- Illness, including Cancer & Alzheimer’s
- Immigration
- Mental Health
- Process / Grief of “getting over” not having a baby
- Sex
- Sexuality
- Strained Relationships
- Suicide
- The Holocaust, including concentration camps
#2: Interesting, but NOT easy…
Second, I found Fabiana’s memoir an interesting read, but NOT an easy read. In fact, there were times when I had to put the book down because the reading was so heavy and intense, with much symbolism and poetic writing. For me, I believe this is a book of discovery. At times, I found it difficult to understand. That is likely because the author was discovering too and did not yet fully understand her journey during the timeframe she was exploring…
#3: A Different Perspective…
Third, “Childless: A Woman and a Girl in a Man’s World” is written from the perspective of a single, childless, over-40 woman. I think this perspective is desperately needed, as so much of the childless journey is written from the perspective of the married childless woman.
#4: Thought-provoking…
Fourth, though I do NOT agree with everything written, I did find Fabiana’s memoir thought-provoking.
#5: The ending…
As I stated at the beginning, I don’t want to give too much of my opinion. And I definitely do NOT want to give away the conclusion. But in my humble opinion… After an emotional read, Fabiana’s memoir ends (or maybe it arrives…) at a place of gentleness—a soft landing after a hard read.
So, do you think you’ll read “Childless,” the memoir by Fabiana Formica? Tell us about it in the comments…
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