Unmarried at 40 - could there be anything worse? Western culture dictates that women who have failed to catch the golden ring of marriage are destined to be deprived and depressed. Add to that the burden of age and many claim that the woman is heading for disaster. This text argues that this is not necessarily the case, and presents discussions with a cross-section of women in midlife, from the never-married to the divorced and widowed. Most of these women had no intention of being single at midlife, but they have given up dreams of happily ever after to create lives on their own that are rich, rewarding and independent. The book recounts these women's stories, as well as their practical advice on managing the mechanics of being single, transforming loneliness into solitude, establishing and maintaining friendship and support networks, redefining the importance of work, living with and without intimacy and sex with men, and choosing to have or not to have children.