The Big M: 13 Writers Take Back the Story of Menopause

by Lidia Yuknavitch

Lidia Yuknavitch teams up with 12 of today's sharpest writers to change the way we think about menopause. Exploring a variety of themes from freedom and mortality, to sexuality and the patriarchy, THE BIG M is a kaleidoscope of unique perspectives on a universal experience, each writer navigating the profound changes in their bodies and lives in their own ways. At times funny, insightful, subversive, and inspiring, THE BIG M aims to rebrand—and reinvent—our understanding of menopause. 

THE BIG M includes work from a diverse group of influential writers, Roxane Gay, Cheryl Strayed, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, Reyna Grande, Joey Soloway, Nana-Ama Danqua, Gina Frangello, Monica Drake, Lan Samantha Chang, Julia Alvarez, Darcey Steinke, and Pam Houston. By including a wide range of voices and perspectives, Yuknavitch’s collection ensures that every reader feels less alone with an experience that—while common—has been taboo for too long.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Essays, Biography Memoir, Womens, Feminism

304 pages, Paperback

Published January 27, 2026

About the author

Lidia Yuknavitch is the author of the National Bestselling novels The Book of Joan and The Small Backs of Children, winner of the 2016 Oregon Book Award's Ken Kesey Award for Fiction as well as the Reader's Choice Award, and the novel Dora: A Headcase, Her widely acclaimed memoir The Chronology of Water was a finalist for a PEN Center USA award for creative nonfiction and winner of a PNBA Award and the Oregon Book Award Reader's Choice. Her nonfiction book based on her TED Talk, The Misfit's Manifesto, is forthcoming from TED Books.

She founded the workshop series Corporeal Writing in Portland Oregon, where she teaches both in person and online. She received her doctorate in Literature from the University of Oregon. She lives in Oregon with her husband Andy Mingo and their renaissance man son, Miles. She is a very good swimmer.

Reviews

[Sally Parente · Rating 4 out of 5]

📖 The Big M: 13 Writers Take Back the Story of Menopause
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
As someone who became post-menopausal in my early 40s, this book really resonated with me. I would especially recommend it to pre-menopausal and peri-menopausal readers. Honestly, it feels like the What to Expect guide many of us never had.
While the title centers menopause, this collection is broader than that. It traces the full arc of womanhood, from childhood and first bleed to trauma, identity, and aging. It’s honest, intense at times, and deeply validating.
That said, readers should be aware that several essays cover heavy topics such as SA, DV, r*pe, and other traumas. The content is powerful, but a heads-up would have been helpful.
Not every essay landed the same for me, and the final one left me a bit unsure, but overall this is an important, advocacy-driven collection that gives women language and permission to understand their bodies without shame.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the digital ARC. This is my honest review of an unedited copy—all opinions are my own.

[Theresa T · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book didn’t blow my mind as much as I hoped it would, but it gets four stars because I’m so glad it exists. We should all be talking about menopause more, and I’m grateful to these writers for putting these stories out into the world. Lidia Yuknavitch’s essay at the end is explosive in its energy and power — I wish more of the essays brought that level of passion. I was surprised to find I just didn’t personally relate very well to most of the essayists, possibly because I’m young to be in menopause? Possibly because I’m raising disabled children so my life still revolves around caregiving? I’m not totally sure, but it felt like these were women writing from and about a future phase of life that I haven’t reached, even though I’m menopausal. Overall, worth a read if you’re in or approaching this stage of life and like hearing stories of others’ experiences with it.

[Rosibel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book from the giveaways, thank you very much for sending it to me. I think five stars are not enough for the tears and laughter and so much information that will be very helpful for many, including me.

Take a breath.
Take another breath.
Now take a hot bath, or a cold plunge, or go on a long walk, or swim, or forest bathe, or go cook something, write something, paint something, collect something rocks, feathers, beads move, meditate, exercise, talk to ghosts, get a massage, watch a movie that makes you laugh your ass off, or cry your face off, hit the heavy bag, climb a rock wall or mountain, eat chocolate and drink wine do something you know gives you solace. We do know what to give ourselves, we just don't do it sometimes.
This time, you are not alone.

[Abigail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnificent. Moving. Monumental. Must read. Memorable. I have a feeling I’ll gift this book repeatedly over the coming years

All women should read this book, particularly those 35-60, and anyone who loves or has to spend lots of time with anyone who falls in that demographic should read it too.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read THE BIG M (13 Writers Take Back the Story of Menopause) edited by Lidia Yuknavitch if you love personal essays, feeling seen, reclaimed narratives, transitions, vastly different experiences, speaking the unspeakable, the many ways through, finding meaning through storytelling & shape-shifting.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

- ". . . to unsilence trauma that has been buried, brushed aside, or censored. Through unsilencing our difficult experiences, we can validate them and acknowledge that we are wortthy of being listened to, hence find solidarity, community, and healing" (p. 26).