Women living single

by Lee Reilly

Women Living Single chronicles the life journeys of thirty heterosexual women between the ages of twenty-eight and seventy-six who either deliberately or unexpectedly never married. These women are actively creating their own lives and making their own choices, all the while being hounded by their parents, excluded by many of their married friends, and stigmatized by the media. The remarkable women profiled here include Susan Ryerson, one of Los Angeles' first black female firefighters; Ellen Adams, an environmentalist; Teresa Sanchez, who started her life in America in a bottling factory and now teaches comparative literature; Jillian Goodman, a nurse in Washington, D.C.; and many more. Along the way they reveal intelligent, surprising insights into how they have discovered ways to travel an unconventional route to a place where marriage is still a welcomed possibility, but no longer a requirement.