The Panic Years, Nell Frizzell
The Panic Years, Nell Frizzell
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The Panic Years
Dates, Doubts, and the Mother of All Decisions

Author: Nell Frizzell

Narrator: Nell Frizzell

Unabridged: 8 hr 27 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/09/2021


Synopsis

This program is read by the author, and includes a bonus chapter exclusive to the audiobook

Renowned journalist Nell Frizzell explores what happens when a woman begins to ask herself: should I have a baby?

We have descriptors for many periods of life—adolescence, menopause, mid-life crisis, quarter-life crisis—but there is a period of profound change that many women face, often in their late twenties to early forties, that does not yet have a name.

Nell Frizzell is calling this period of flux “the panic years,” and it is often characterized by a preoccupation with one major question: should I have a baby? And from there—do I want a baby? With whom should I have a baby? How will I know when I’m ready?

Decisions made during this period suddenly take on more weight, as questions of love, career, friendship, fertility, and family clash together while peers begin the process of coupling and breeding. But this very important process is rarely written or talked about beyond the clichés of the “ticking clock.”

Enter Frizzell, our comforting guide, who uses personal stories from her own experiences in the panic years to illuminate the larger social and cultural trends, and gives voice to the uncertainty, confusion, and urgency that tends to characterize this time of life.

Frizzell reminds us that we are not alone in this, and encourages us to share our experiences and those of the women around us—as she does with honesty and vulnerability in these chapters. Raw and hilarious, The Panic Years is an arm around the shoulder for every woman trying to navigate life’s big decisions against the backdrop of the mother of all questions.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books

About Nell Frizzell

Nell Frizzell is a freelance journalist who writes a column for Vogue and also writes for the Guardian, Elle, Vice, Buzzfeed, the Independent, the Observer, and the Telegraph. She is best known for features and columns on gender, pregnancy, and parenting, and she has been featured several times on various BBC programs. In addition to journalism, Nell has written and performed comedy and works as a lifeguard. She lives in London with her partner and child.


Reviews

I initially thought this was a self-help book (maybe it's the cover?) but reader be warned - it's not. This is a memoir accounting the author's experiences in what she deems The Flux/The Panic Years (I am still uncertain why we switch between these terms - aren't they the same thing?). She defines t......more

As a topic that stresses me out whenever I make the decision to try and navigate it, motherhood is for me and many others an all but fleeting set of circumstances colliding simultaneously which must happen before time shifts into a different part of life's journey. I am currently in those years now......more

Goodreads review by Katie

How much you enjoy this will depend on your your views on pregnancy and motherhood, but this was exactly what I needed right now. What especially resonated with me was her comment that even to our close friends, it's rare that we truly ever open up about our thoughts on this topic...and because of t......more

Goodreads review by Hannah

Hate to say it but soooo disappointing. I actually didn’t finish it.... possibly not in the right frame of mind for it. Less like a memoir more like a really boring lecture where the narrator just gets her own way all the time and not in an inspirational manner. I was expecting it to be funny and it......more

Goodreads review by Lucie

For some reason when I heard about this book i thought it would provide a nuanced discussion around the decision of whether or not to have children. However, Frizzell seems like she always knew that she wanted to have children, just not whether her life circumstances would line up in order for that......more