THE NEXT DAY

Words of encouragement for women facing changes, from the noted philanthropist.

Toward the end of this slim volume, the author confesses, “I wish I knew the secret to overcoming your fears, conquering self-doubt, and finding comfort in your own skin. But over the last few years, as I approached the age of sixty, I finally realized that the ‘secret’ may be nothing more than time. Time and experience.” That may well be true, but it does cast a bit of doubt on French’s decision to write this book. In it, she shares a few personal anecdotes as well as snippets of poetry and other received wisdom that she has found useful in navigating life transitions such as leaving home for college, becoming a working mom, ending her marriage, leaving the Gates Foundation, and turning 60. Among the familiar self-help notions revisited are psychologist Donald Winnicott’s notion of the “good enough” parent, the U-shaped curve of happiness that predicts a peak at 70, and lines from inspirational poets like Mary Oliver and David Whyte. Readers will find little drama, few intimate details (“Bill has publicly acknowledged that he wasn’t always faithful to me while we were married,” she writes), and not much actual storytelling after early chapters describing her great relationship with her father and the death of a close friend. Interviews with Oprah Winfrey, Gayle King, Reese Witherspoon, Billie Jean King, Michelle Obama, and others result in an interesting list of their defining transitions (e.g., coming out as a lesbian, surviving betrayal, leaving the White House) but offer little insight beyond that. Her previous book, The Moment of Lift, offered a more substantive approach.

A well-intentioned mix of mild memoir and familiar inspiration.