The Panic Years Dates, Doubts, and the Mother of All Decisions

Nell Frizzell — 2020

What happens when a woman begins to ask herself: Should I have a baby?Women go through adolescence, menopause, some have a mid-life crisis, some might even have a quarter-life crisis, but there is another time of profound change and it doesn't have a name. Nell Frizzell is calling it The Flux. For most women it happens between the ages of twenty seven and forty but it isn't actually about age at all.The Flux is characterised by a preoccupation with one major question: Should I have a baby? And of course with the questions that inevitably follow: Do I want a baby? How do I know? Will I ever be ready? The Flux occurs when a woman realises that the options she's taken for granted throughout her teens and twenties are not available to her for ever. Every decision she makes in this time will have an impact; partner, holidays, job, postcode, savings, friendships - never mind your sense of self - nothing is off limits.Raw, hilarious and beguilingly honest, Nell Frizzell's account of The Panic Years is an arm around the shoulder and a call to arms. We are none of us alone in this, but we must share our experiences and those of the women around us - as Nell does - to lessen the struggle with one of life's biggest questions.

Reviews

Caroline@galfiend

Oct 19, 2023

This book was interesting at times albeit a odd blend of the personal narrative vs statistics and passages illuminating the societal realities of deciding to give birth in the UK. Another thing to note about this book it isn’t really about the mediation around decision having a child or not, more about the path she took to get there which I think would have given this book much more oomph.

Thea MacDonald@tmac

Feb 15, 2022

If you are looking for a relatable, funny and honest read surrounding the countless trials and tribulations that coincide with being a 25-40 woman then I promise you, you wont be able to put this book down. It speaks so effortlessly about the topics that we are all thinking about, whether we actively speak about them or not. The Panic years has made me feel connected to my tribe of fellow women and has made me understand on a more humanistic level, how not one of our journeys through these years will be the same and not any one of those journeys less important then the other. Thanks Nell Frizzell for countless laughs and home truths that I felt compelled to face whilst sipping on a glass (bottle) of red wine in the bath of an evening.