review: spinster by kate bolick

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Why does “spinster” have a negative connotation when there is no real equivalent for an unmarried man (“bachelor” is certainly not negative)? Kate Bolick examines the word “spinster” and the five marvelous women she thinks of when she thinks of the word. In this memoir/biography (for Bolick examines her own spinster life alongside the women she admires), Bolick delves into the legal restrictions that were imposed on single woman in the United States while also exploring how some women forged their own way in the framework of her own life experiences. There are times when Bolick lives with a romantic partner as well as times she is single. She writes of her fears of ending up “a bag lady” as she discovers one of her idols very nearly did. Bolick’s story is yet to be completed, but Spinster concludes by coming back around to the word she started with and a desire “to offer [spinster] up as shorthand for holding on to that in you which is independent and self-sufficient, whether you’re single or coupled.”
5/5
Review copy provided by Blogging for Books.