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Midlife Solo: writing through chaos to find my place in the world
In Midlife Solo, a single mother starting afresh in her forties struggles to come to terms with the messy complications of middle age. Writing keeps her sane, bringing up memories and reflections as she deals with teenaged children, elderly parents, and her own aging. She confronts disasters, such as a house fire and the loss of friends, and celebrates pleasure: gardening, community, a younger boyfriend, travel to France.
With warmth, humour, and honesty, she explores what matters most: the necessity of change, the pain that comes with it, and especially, as she writes, "the hard work that is love."
This captivating memoir celebrates Beth Kaplan's chaotic twenty-five year journey to find peace and home.
With warmth, humour, and honesty, she explores what matters most: the necessity of change, the pain that comes with it, and especially, as she writes, "the hard work that is love."
This captivating memoir celebrates Beth Kaplan's chaotic twenty-five year journey to find peace and home.
212 pages, Paperback
First published November 6, 2023
2 people are currently reading
5 people want to read
About the author
Beth Kaplan
7 books13 followersI grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia and worked as a professional actress for a decade before leaving the stage to earn an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia.
My new book, Midlife Solo: writing through chaos to find my place in the world, is a compilation of powerful, humorous, thoughtful essays about my difficult midlife years as a single mother and struggling writer.
My first four books are: "Finding the Jewish Shakespeare," a biography of my once-famous great-grandfather; "All My Loving," a memoir of the sixties, Beatlemania, and the year my family lived in Paris; "True to Life," a succinct guide to personal narrative that's the textbook for my courses; and "Loose Woman," the story of the dramatic year my life changed forever.
Since 1994, I've taught memoir and personal essay writing; in 2012, the University of Toronto gave me its Excellence in Teaching award. My essays have appeared in many newspapers and magazines and on CBC radio.
I started writing stories and letters at the age of six and a diary at nine and have never stopped. The blog on my website is now my diary.
My new book, Midlife Solo: writing through chaos to find my place in the world, is a compilation of powerful, humorous, thoughtful essays about my difficult midlife years as a single mother and struggling writer.
My first four books are: "Finding the Jewish Shakespeare," a biography of my once-famous great-grandfather; "All My Loving," a memoir of the sixties, Beatlemania, and the year my family lived in Paris; "True to Life," a succinct guide to personal narrative that's the textbook for my courses; and "Loose Woman," the story of the dramatic year my life changed forever.
Since 1994, I've taught memoir and personal essay writing; in 2012, the University of Toronto gave me its Excellence in Teaching award. My essays have appeared in many newspapers and magazines and on CBC radio.
I started writing stories and letters at the age of six and a diary at nine and have never stopped. The blog on my website is now my diary.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
December 25, 2023
This book of essays is a perfect balm for the struggles world citizens face today. The wide variety of topic and tone is refreshing. One essay would leave me shedding a tear; the next would leave me giggling. Beth digs deep when sharing her trials and joys, demonstrating that life is not perfect, life goes on, and joy resides in unexpected places. Attitude is everything.
February 23, 2024
Kaplan has an effortless style and conversational voice. I've been reading essays more lately, and her compilation was engaging and relatable. Well done!
June 14, 2024
I loved this book. Beth Kaplan's essays are poignant, funny and full of hard won wisdom. Her voice is so warm and witty. Reading this book felt like being enclosed in a warm hug.
September 9, 2024
MIDLIFE SOLO: Writing Through Chaos to Find My Place in the World by Beth Kaplan
Listening to writers read their work is to perceive every meaning, nuance and emotion they intended their words to convey. And oh, how I enjoyed listening to Beth Kaplan read MIDLIFE SOLO. This former actress deftly narrates her crisp sentences and flowing paragraphs with sincerity, humility and honest reflection.
A collection of essays written over many years and curated here in themed chapters, MIDLIFE SOLO resonated for me on many levels. I’ve not navigated a life-changing divorce or been a single mother struggling to start a new career, but I’ve raised a challenging teenager, switched careers (more than once), and felt the advancing aches, pains and limitations—both physical and metaphorical—that have accompanied me into my (very early) seventies.
These essays about midlife also look back on Kaplan’s growing-up experiences, which had me thoughtfully reminiscing about my own. I, like Beth, had an English pen pal, but mine stopped writing to me after my letter describing in detail how to play baseball. (Well, she asked.) Beth’s poignant pen pal story of neglect and redemption brought me to tears. As did her story about a childhood friend lost and found, then lost again.
I, too, debated with my friends about which Beatle we liked best. But my Fab Four flirtation, perhaps because I was only ten years old when they made it big, did not lead to the lifelong connection Beth feels for her favourite Beatle. These stories I enjoyed with vicarious pleasure and a little envy.
I’ve also suffered the heart-stopping horror of losing my purse, though not when I was alone in a foreign country without any ready recourse should I not find it. That Kaplan wrote about this experience within hours of its resolution, explains the authenticity and intensity that drew me right in. I hoped as she hoped that it would all work out, while nodding in agreement as she thought back to other times in her life when her heart stopped: “This was just stuff. This wasn’t health, not love, not life and death, only carelessness and stuff.”
Finally, like all mothers eventually must, I’ve worked hard to develop and nurture an adult relationship with my adult son, as Kaplan writes about doing with her children.
I believe most women of a certain age will see aspects of their own lives in these warm-hearted essays, some of which you might have read or listened to back when they were initially published in newspapers or magazines, or read by the author on CBC radio. At the end of each chapter, Kaplan provides postscripts about what may have changed from a cultural or newsworthy standpoint since each piece was first published, bringing them full circle and relevant to the here and now.
If you’re a midlife woman, solo or partnered, or a woman who has grown beyond midlife but might enjoy revisiting your own adventures from that not-so-distant era, I highly recommend you read or listen to MIDLIFE SOLO. Expect to be moved, charmed and engaged—and quite likely reminded of experiences you haven’t thought about for decades.
Listening to writers read their work is to perceive every meaning, nuance and emotion they intended their words to convey. And oh, how I enjoyed listening to Beth Kaplan read MIDLIFE SOLO. This former actress deftly narrates her crisp sentences and flowing paragraphs with sincerity, humility and honest reflection.
A collection of essays written over many years and curated here in themed chapters, MIDLIFE SOLO resonated for me on many levels. I’ve not navigated a life-changing divorce or been a single mother struggling to start a new career, but I’ve raised a challenging teenager, switched careers (more than once), and felt the advancing aches, pains and limitations—both physical and metaphorical—that have accompanied me into my (very early) seventies.
These essays about midlife also look back on Kaplan’s growing-up experiences, which had me thoughtfully reminiscing about my own. I, like Beth, had an English pen pal, but mine stopped writing to me after my letter describing in detail how to play baseball. (Well, she asked.) Beth’s poignant pen pal story of neglect and redemption brought me to tears. As did her story about a childhood friend lost and found, then lost again.
I, too, debated with my friends about which Beatle we liked best. But my Fab Four flirtation, perhaps because I was only ten years old when they made it big, did not lead to the lifelong connection Beth feels for her favourite Beatle. These stories I enjoyed with vicarious pleasure and a little envy.
I’ve also suffered the heart-stopping horror of losing my purse, though not when I was alone in a foreign country without any ready recourse should I not find it. That Kaplan wrote about this experience within hours of its resolution, explains the authenticity and intensity that drew me right in. I hoped as she hoped that it would all work out, while nodding in agreement as she thought back to other times in her life when her heart stopped: “This was just stuff. This wasn’t health, not love, not life and death, only carelessness and stuff.”
Finally, like all mothers eventually must, I’ve worked hard to develop and nurture an adult relationship with my adult son, as Kaplan writes about doing with her children.
I believe most women of a certain age will see aspects of their own lives in these warm-hearted essays, some of which you might have read or listened to back when they were initially published in newspapers or magazines, or read by the author on CBC radio. At the end of each chapter, Kaplan provides postscripts about what may have changed from a cultural or newsworthy standpoint since each piece was first published, bringing them full circle and relevant to the here and now.
If you’re a midlife woman, solo or partnered, or a woman who has grown beyond midlife but might enjoy revisiting your own adventures from that not-so-distant era, I highly recommend you read or listen to MIDLIFE SOLO. Expect to be moved, charmed and engaged—and quite likely reminded of experiences you haven’t thought about for decades.
June 3, 2024
I have just finished reading Mid Life Solo by Beth Kaplan, a memoir in the form of fifty short essays” published in 2023 by Mosaic Press. I loved reading this book! It has given me so much to think about and the inspiration to record and share my own memories.
Beth Kaplan’s latest book is a remarkable collection of true life stories that documents not only a crucial time in the life of the author but a unique period of history through which my generation lived and loved.
Witty and insightful, but never over-indulgent, the bite-sized reflections on her every-day experiences as a single mother, daughter and friend struck a chord and caused me to stop and think back to what I was doing at the same time in my life, making this a very personal journey as well as an entertaining and interesting read.
Ms Kaplan’s writing transforms incidental anecdotes into memorable scenes from an eventful life. From a diary writing compulsion inspired by Anne Frank and a childhood pen pal correspondence, her skills were honed by a research project into the fascinating life-story of her great-great grandfather and validated by successful publication of short pieces submitted to magazine essay competitions. Drawing on fifty years of carefully recorded memories this, her sixth book, is a masterpiece of memoir that lights the way for all who have a story to tell.
Now an experienced teacher of memoir writing she is an inspiration. Each little gem stands alone yet is part of a carefully constructed whole. Each chapter is delicious, consisting of a set of short essays unlike any I have ever read or written. The reader is transported back to 1960’s Paris, to a train with a total stranger, shares the drama of a lost handbag when travelling abroad and into the warmth of the Cabbagetown community. We meet Beth’s family, watch her children grow into young adults, understand the influence of her beloved friends and experience the trauma of a household inferno.
This is a book that entices greedy reading but which deserves to be tasted slowly savoured. It demands a second reading and then, with generosity, inspires you into action.
In the preface Beth writes “If you tell your own small story candidly and well, it will matter.” These stories matter.
The next book I will be re-reading is also by Beth Kaplan. It is called “True to Life: Fifty Steps to Help You Tell Your Story” (published 2014 by BPS Books).
Beth Kaplan’s latest book is a remarkable collection of true life stories that documents not only a crucial time in the life of the author but a unique period of history through which my generation lived and loved.
Witty and insightful, but never over-indulgent, the bite-sized reflections on her every-day experiences as a single mother, daughter and friend struck a chord and caused me to stop and think back to what I was doing at the same time in my life, making this a very personal journey as well as an entertaining and interesting read.
Ms Kaplan’s writing transforms incidental anecdotes into memorable scenes from an eventful life. From a diary writing compulsion inspired by Anne Frank and a childhood pen pal correspondence, her skills were honed by a research project into the fascinating life-story of her great-great grandfather and validated by successful publication of short pieces submitted to magazine essay competitions. Drawing on fifty years of carefully recorded memories this, her sixth book, is a masterpiece of memoir that lights the way for all who have a story to tell.
Now an experienced teacher of memoir writing she is an inspiration. Each little gem stands alone yet is part of a carefully constructed whole. Each chapter is delicious, consisting of a set of short essays unlike any I have ever read or written. The reader is transported back to 1960’s Paris, to a train with a total stranger, shares the drama of a lost handbag when travelling abroad and into the warmth of the Cabbagetown community. We meet Beth’s family, watch her children grow into young adults, understand the influence of her beloved friends and experience the trauma of a household inferno.
This is a book that entices greedy reading but which deserves to be tasted slowly savoured. It demands a second reading and then, with generosity, inspires you into action.
In the preface Beth writes “If you tell your own small story candidly and well, it will matter.” These stories matter.
The next book I will be re-reading is also by Beth Kaplan. It is called “True to Life: Fifty Steps to Help You Tell Your Story” (published 2014 by BPS Books).
March 7, 2024
Beth Kaplan brings a sharp wit, a generous heart and a keen eye for character to her story of rekindling purpose and connection in the tumult of midlife. Like every woman over 40 or so, she has lost plenty: a marriage, both parents and friends gone too soon. She has seen fire ravage her home. Yet here she is, thriving on her own as a writer, mother of grown children and longtime member of a raffish urban community that prizes its Christmas pageant and local handyman with a knack for setting everything right.
A handbag forgotten on a train in France (and recovered through acts of kindness) encapsulates the sense of hope that propels these linked adventures of a woman who pursues a solitary calling while drawing nourishment from the world. The title works on two levels: as one woman's song of herself and as a meditation on uncoupledness.
Ranging nimbly between girlhood, young womanhood and the reassessment born of passing 40 or so, these linked essays unfold like a conversation with a straight-talking friend unafraid to call herself to account. Whether she's flunking out of Brownies for refusing to semaphore, being put in her place by the famously outspoken painter Alice Neel, or scoring winter coats for all her friends and a Balenciaga gown for herself at the secondhand store, she had me wanting more of her company.
A handbag forgotten on a train in France (and recovered through acts of kindness) encapsulates the sense of hope that propels these linked adventures of a woman who pursues a solitary calling while drawing nourishment from the world. The title works on two levels: as one woman's song of herself and as a meditation on uncoupledness.
Ranging nimbly between girlhood, young womanhood and the reassessment born of passing 40 or so, these linked essays unfold like a conversation with a straight-talking friend unafraid to call herself to account. Whether she's flunking out of Brownies for refusing to semaphore, being put in her place by the famously outspoken painter Alice Neel, or scoring winter coats for all her friends and a Balenciaga gown for herself at the secondhand store, she had me wanting more of her company.
January 23, 2024
To read Beth Kaplan’s writer’s voice in Midlife Solo is to experience an authentic, warm, funny and loving presence.
The essays chart her journey from divorce, single motherhood, a major career change, to a serene, happy and grateful elderhood. Each one is stand-alone, a polished piece of exceptionally fine writing. They attest to her courage and commitment to her friends, family and her wonderful neighbourhood. Her story of organizing a Christmas pageant every year at the Riverdale Farm is a lively and hilarious account of an event that could only happen in this neighbourhood, in this country. It’s a tribute to her commitment to place.
Beth is clearly a bon vivant who embraces the riches and pleasures of life with wide open arms – always tempered with self-deprecating humour. The story of learning, upon being single, how to use tools and make minor home repairs includes the anecdote of once losing her security deposit because the landlord found ninety-two holes in the wall behind a nailed-up rug.
“What did he expect? The rug wouldn’t stay up, so I just kept hammering in nails until it did.”
My favourite though, is the story of being on tour as an actress for a production of the Massacre of the Innocents. As she battles a soldier trying to wrest her infant from her arms,
she realizes that not only has she dropped the baby, she’s standing on it.
Come for the funny parts, stay for a deep encounter with a profoundly wise woman.
The essays chart her journey from divorce, single motherhood, a major career change, to a serene, happy and grateful elderhood. Each one is stand-alone, a polished piece of exceptionally fine writing. They attest to her courage and commitment to her friends, family and her wonderful neighbourhood. Her story of organizing a Christmas pageant every year at the Riverdale Farm is a lively and hilarious account of an event that could only happen in this neighbourhood, in this country. It’s a tribute to her commitment to place.
Beth is clearly a bon vivant who embraces the riches and pleasures of life with wide open arms – always tempered with self-deprecating humour. The story of learning, upon being single, how to use tools and make minor home repairs includes the anecdote of once losing her security deposit because the landlord found ninety-two holes in the wall behind a nailed-up rug.
“What did he expect? The rug wouldn’t stay up, so I just kept hammering in nails until it did.”
My favourite though, is the story of being on tour as an actress for a production of the Massacre of the Innocents. As she battles a soldier trying to wrest her infant from her arms,
she realizes that not only has she dropped the baby, she’s standing on it.
Come for the funny parts, stay for a deep encounter with a profoundly wise woman.
August 10, 2025
Beth Kaplan’s book of essays Midlife Solo has been my second coffee companion many mornings over the course of the year. I have loved getting to know my former teacher’s own life stories, and read her through the decades, from the early days of her separation in her 40s from her husband, to now, taking a walk with her through Cabbagetown and eavesdropping her conversations with everyone from the butcher to the handyman, to the lady next door, standing beside her as she watched her house in flames and following her in France as she frantically tracks down her runaway handbag on a train to Marseilles. There are so many precious moments of a well-documented life lived thoroughly. I shall miss my morning coffee friend, but it has left me with much inspiration: that if we open our eyes and put pencil to paper, all of our lives are rich with stories to tell and characters to cherish.
January 10, 2026
I thoroughly enjoyed this audio book read by the author. I'm not usually one to reach for a memoir in essays, but Beth Kaplan has cured me of this inexplicable prejudice. It was amazing and wonderful to witness her midlife blossoming as she led me through her joys, loves, challenges, and insights in standalone chapters arranged by theme. Each one made me eager to hear the next! And of course, as a former actress, Beth knows how to deliver a line. Her velvet, friendly voice accompanied me on dog walks and drives and I was sad when it came to an end. I now recommend this audio book to all my midlife friends.
May 25, 2024
Beth's book is a compendium of her life experiences as single mother and parent in downtown Toronto from the 1980s to the 2000s. She reflects on her relationship with her own aging parents, how she coped post-divorce, and the joys of being single and independent as her children moved towards adulthood. As in her other books, Beth has the wisdom that comes through deeply engaging with one's past, and shares the lessons she has learned, in order that we can all become better versions of ourselves.
November 29, 2024
In this vibrant collection of personal essays, the Beth Kaplan crafts an intimate portrait of a life in constant evolution, moving with remarkable agility between memories of her resistant youth and the hard-won wisdom of middle age. The essays, while independent, are woven together by recurring themes of self-discovery, rebellion, and the quiet epiphanies that come with age.
The author's voice is refreshingly unvarnished and stays with you long after you have finished the book. I loved every story. Highly recommend.
The author's voice is refreshingly unvarnished and stays with you long after you have finished the book. I loved every story. Highly recommend.
July 16, 2025
In a series of warm and honest essays, Kaplan explores her life as a single mother in her forties and the complications life brings. Entries deal with everything from teenage angst to aging, from her local butcher shop to shopping at second hand stores. She faces both loss, including a house fire and the death of her parents and fiends, and joy, including the birth of grandchildren. gardening and travel. A delightful and thought provoking read for any woman over 40! (And now I will go and pluck my chin hairs.)
February 25, 2024
This is a fabulous book. These essays about love, loss and life are page-turning jewels. I’m not a nonfiction reader, but Kaplan’s essays held the same spell for me as an Alice Munro short story. She has a way of shining light on a small detail that casts a warm glow on other elements around it. Like a Vermeer painting each essay draws you into an intimacy with the different people in her life. I didn’t want it to end. Highly recommended.
March 7, 2024
I loved this book even though I am not usually a fan of short story collections. Some of the tales are poignant, all are witty, some laugh-out-loud funny, and all uplifting and packed with wisdom. It’s a book that provides good medicine for these troubled times, but in a wonderfully entertaining package. I highly recommend it—and in fact, my Christmas shopping has just been taken care of. No higher praise than that!
October 28, 2024
With great compassion, humour, and wisdom, Beth Kaplan shares stories of navigating life as a single woman after a tumultuous divorce. There are the ups, such as new-found community and friends, as well as downs, like the death of her father and confronting aging, and much in between.
Anyone who has suddenly found themself alone on the perilous seas of mid-life will draw tremendous comfort and insight from her stories, told with her signature economy, wit, and sharp observation.
Anyone who has suddenly found themself alone on the perilous seas of mid-life will draw tremendous comfort and insight from her stories, told with her signature economy, wit, and sharp observation.
October 29, 2024
Love this book! For anyone looking for their place in the world and what’s next. Beth Kaplan’s essays and stories will touch your heart and ignite your courage to reimagine what’s next in life, love and the world. Read. This. Book.
January 1, 2024
In this brilliant memoir-essay collection Beth Kaplan depicts candid, poignant moments during her struggles as a single mother of two. As she pivots from anger to reconciliation with her former husband and reflects on her relationships with her parents, she grows in self-confidence as a mother, feminist, activist, teacher and writer. Her essays, laced wit humour and love, provide hope during these tumultuous times.
November 21, 2023
A powerful and profound recollection of a fascinating life. I laughed the whole way through.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews