Live Alone and Like It: The Classic Guide For The Single Woman
by: Marjorie Hillis
Published by: 5 Spot
Buy From Amazon.com
Reviewed by Diane Snyder
Live Alone and Like It was originally published in 1936 and has all the charm of that time but still contains wise advice and guidance for women of any age and circumstance. Author Marjorie Hillis writes with such a snappy wit and humor that you will smile or laugh throughout the book. This small book can be read quickly but you will want to keep it for future references on: how to make a martini, when you should have an affair or making your new home charming, comfortable and chic.
Hillis stresses that it is all about attitude. If you find yourself living alone, there are gracious, positive and even prosperous ways to take on your new independence and there are those things that you do not want to indulge in: self-pity, complaining about your circumstances and becoming, literally, a hermit. Any woman who finds herself being the “Extra Woman” must do things better, faster and more than other women. A plan is essential, and that requires knowing what kind of life you want and how you are going to get there. Hillis gives lots of savvy ways of doing simple things–some very dated but delightful and amusing. Some of it will make you wonder just how secretly progressive those mid-1930’s women really were.
Move over Suze Orman, Hillis said it all in 1936 in her chapter “You’d Better Skip This One.” Saving and budgeting money is a necessary fact of life. With great insight into behavior (at least women’s), she points out that buying something with your own money gives a deeper pleasure than having someone else pay for it. Even if you have to buy less, buy the best. To keep your savings safe and sound, it is necessary to read and learn about money management for yourself.
To really enjoy Ms Hillis’s wisdom and playfulness, take this book and a martini mixed as instructed into your chic bedroom while in your satin negligee and settle back into plumped pillows with the phones off.
Armchair Interviews says: Quaint and current advice well given.
From our armchair to yours...
