What happens when, long-partnered and no longer youthful, we are suddenly left alone and uncoupled? Here is a book that embraces the will, the spirit of such a challenge. Here are stories of how an older man or woman may avoid a barren middle age. Of how to imbue our later years with heft, meaning and delight, self-renewal thick with surprise and discovery. Here are concerns that grievously affect our burgeoning aging community as most of us over 70 now live alone, matters that resonate as well for retired couples. Say Yes! is neither guide nor manual. Rather, it is the narrator's intimate recountings of loss and aloneness. But also possibilities for a thrilling, reconfigured reality, an abundance of bountiful awakenings for wishful readers who may become heartened and emboldened. Do we latch on? Or do we accept a conventional stasis, a sedate conformity. A digging in from fear of the untried. The author is 60 when her husband of 36 years dies of pancreatic cancer. Bereft, an opportunity arises. She takes an impulsive trip to Florence, Italy. From this, her life catapults beyond the mundane as she travels by herself to other European cities, writes a book, moves to New York. Enriched by strangers, she finds celebration in being alone, enters into passions old and new with verve and grit. Standing firm is her staunch refusal to accept a life of marking time devoid of vigorous well-being. Why move beyond what comfortably suits? To vanquish doubt, dread, despair. To savor the largesse of our world in adventurous new ways. How does one begin? Say Yes!

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A woman returns to her small Maine hometown, uncovering family secrets that take her on a journey of self-discovery and new love, in this warm and charming novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Evvie Drake Starts Over. “A testament to the truth that love comes in all shapes, sizes, and situations.”—Jodi Picoult ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: NPR, PopSugar Smarting from her recently canceled wedding and about to turn forty, Laurie Sassalyn returns to her Maine hometown of Calcasset to handle the estate of her great-aunt Dot, a spirited adventurer who lived to be ninety-three. Alongside boxes of Polaroids and pottery, a mysterious wooden duck shows up at the bottom of a cedar chest. Laurie’s curiosity is piqued, especially after she finds a love letter to the never-married Dot that ends with the line “And anyway, if you’re ever desperate, there are always ducks, darling.” Laurie is told that the duck has no financial value. But after it disappears under suspicious circumstances, she feels compelled to figure out why anyone would steal a wooden duck—and why Dot kept it hidden away in the first place. Suddenly Laurie finds herself swept up in a righteous caper that has her negotiating with antiques dealers and con artists, going on after-hours dates at the local library, and reconnecting with her oldest friend and her first love. Desperate to uncover her great-aunt’s secrets, Laurie must reckon with her own past and her future—and ultimately embrace her own vision of flying solo. With a cast of unforgettable characters and a heroine you will root for from page one, Flying Solo is a wonderfully original story about growing up, coming home, and learning to make a life for yourself on your own terms.

"Sixty-Something and Flying Solo" is a humorous, edgy memoir filled with serious ponderings. An Oregon transplant with no kids, no significant other, the author is someone about whom readers could say "I wouldn't want to be in her shoes, but if she can make it, I can too." Pieces such as "What Not to Say at a Funeral" and "Dusting and Other Insanities" provide a backdrop for monthly accounts of her fall into retirement's abyss where she clings to her to-do lists while she alters her diet, her wardrobe, her routine and her vow to become more domestic. When she resurfaces a year later, she's surprised at the landscape and what has saved her.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A woman returns to her small Maine hometown, uncovering family secrets that take her on a journey of self-discovery and new love, in this warm and charming novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Evvie Drake Starts Over. “Moving and tender . . . A perfect book for anyone who feels a little separate from the flock.”—Rebecca Serle, New York Times bestselling author of One Italian Summer ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: NPR, PopSugar Smarting from her recently canceled wedding and about to turn forty, Laurie Sassalyn returns to her Maine hometown of Calcasset to handle the estate of her great-aunt Dot, a spirited adventurer who lived to be ninety-three. Alongside boxes of Polaroids and pottery, a mysterious wooden duck shows up at the bottom of a cedar chest. Laurie’s curiosity is piqued, especially after she finds a love letter to the never-married Dot that ends with the line “And anyway, if you’re ever desperate, there are always ducks, darling.” Laurie is told that the duck has no financial value. But after it disappears under suspicious circumstances, she feels compelled to figure out why anyone would steal a wooden duck—and why Dot kept it hidden away in the first place. Suddenly Laurie finds herself swept up in a righteous caper that has her negotiating with antiques dealers and con artists, going on after-hours dates at the local library, and reconnecting with her oldest friend and her first love. Desperate to uncover her great-aunt’s secrets, Laurie must reckon with her own past and her future—and ultimately embrace her own vision of flying solo. With a cast of unforgettable characters and a heroine you will root for from page one, Flying Solo is a wonderfully original story about growing up, coming home, and learning to make a life for yourself on your own terms.

The contributors share time-tested advice on approaches, methods, systems, and perspectives that have resulted in thriving solo and small firm law practices in the real world. This book contains proven solutions for problems and issues that, sooner or later, every practitioner will have to face.

The authors share the stories of single women in midlife as well as their practical advice on managing the mechanics of being single, transforming loneliness, redefining the place of work, developing friendship and support networks, living with and without intimacy, and choosing to have and raise children. In the process they define a new American lifestyle.

Rachel, having chosen to be mute following the sudden death of a classmate, shares responsibility with the other sixth-graders who decide not to report that the substitute teacher failed to show up.