Late Love

Many women, and a minority of men, are deciding that ‘adequate’ marriages are inadequate. They are driving an explosion of ‘grey’ divorce and remarriage in the over-50s. With children departing into their own journeys and ever-longer lives stretching out ahead, more mature adults are leaping, unconventionally and aspirationally, at a last chance at love. Most of the existing literature discourages them. The dominant mantra of books, counsellors and media is that ‘staying together’ is the superior, admirable choice. They insist that romantic dreams of great sex and soul mates are the Disney-esque yearnings of the naively immature. This book argues the contrary. Great relationships are not only attainable; they are a natural and admirable goal for ageing humans. And if your current mate isn’t interested in working with you to craft an ever-deeper and finer partnership, then it may be your mate that requires changing – not your dreams. As a gender expert, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox frames her reflections in the context of an unprecedented, millennial shift in gender relations. As women’s educational, social and economic empowerment increases, they continue to demand more for the world – and from it. This is true both at home and at work. Settling for anything less than mutually supportive, seductive and stretching relationships is so yesterday. As the number of late leavers and lovers swells, their thirst for more is redefining what relationships look like in a greying, gender-balanced world. And it looks pretty good. Many women, and a minority of men, are deciding that ‘adequate’ marriages are inadequate. They are driving an explosion of ‘grey’ divorce and remarriage in the over-50s. With children departing into their own journeys and ever-longer lives stretching out ahead, more mature adults are leaping, unconventionally and aspirationally, at a last chance at love. Most of the existing literature discourages them. The dominant mantra of books, counsellors and media is that ‘staying together’ is the superior, admirable choice. They insist that romantic dreams of great sex and soul mates are the Disney-esque yearnings of the naively immature. This book argues the contrary. Great relationships are not only attainable; they are a natural and admirable goal for ageing humans. And if your current mate isn’t interested in working with you to craft an ever-deeper and finer partnership, then it may be your mate that requires changing – not your dreams. As a gender expert, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox frames her reflections in the context of an unprecedented, millennial shift in gender relations. As women’s educational, social and economic empowerment increases, they continue to demand more for the world – and from it. This is true both at home and at work. Settling for anything less than mutually supportive, seductive and stretching relationships is so yesterday. As the number of late leavers and lovers swells, their thirst for more is redefining what relationships look like in a greying, gender-balanced world. And it looks pretty good.

Avivah Wittenberg-Cox

As one of the world’s leading gender experts, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox frames her reflections in the context of her own discovery of late love. Wittenberg-Cox is CEO of 20-first, a global gender balance consultancy. She works with the CEOs and top management teams of companies on 21st century forms of leadership, customer connections and talent management. She has written extensively on the subject of gender balance in business, including the best-selling: Seven Steps to Leading Gender-Balanced Businesses (Harvard Business Review), How Women Mean Business, A Step by Step Guide to Profiting from Gender Balanced Business (Wiley), and Why Women Mean Business: Understanding the Emergence of Our Next Economic Revolution (Wiley). She blogs for Harvard Business Review, is a certified executive coach, as well as the Founder and Honorary President of GlobalPWN.net, an international women’s network. Avivah is very happily (re)-married to her sculptor husband Tim Hollins. They live in London with their first-ever dog, Daisy, who rounds out the family and fills the empty nest. Her gender-balanced children (a son and daughter), are budding globe trotters who call regularly. Late Love is her first, more personal, book.