The Second Half: 40 Women Reveal Life After 50

By Ellen Warner

 

From 2006-2020 I photographed and interviewed women of different cultures. Portraits include women from Algeria, Britain, France, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Myanmar, the Caribbean Islands and the USA. Each portrait is accompanied by a description, in the subject’s own voice, of her life journey and what “the second half” has meant/will hopefully mean for her. The book was published by Brandeis University Press in March 2022. It is distributed by The University of Chicago Press in the USA, and had accompanying photographic exhibits. It was published as a trade book, but it also can be used in classrooms for Gender and Women’s Studies. The forward was written by Erica Jong.

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While many of the women are well known, perhaps successful in a career, others have never had the luxury or inclination to choose a career. Included in the book are women of different socio-economic backgrounds and different religions. They range from age 55 to 107 and represent cultures from the most sophisticated to indigenous*. Each has a story to tell that can be instructive to younger women.