Winging It: Dispatches from an Almost Empty Nest

A ＂strikingly imaginative＂ (O, The Oprah Magazine) and heartfelt memoir for every woman on the verge of becoming an empty nester.

In her critically acclaimed debut memoir, Still Life with Chickens, Catherine Goldhammer shared her recovery from the chaos of divorce: moving with her daughter Harper to a seaside New England town, renovating a rustic cottage, and raising six chickens. Winging It picks up when Harper begins her junior year of high school and Catherine suddenly realizes that both she and her daughter will be on their own in two short years. Like so many mothers, Catherine feels woefully unprepared for not only her daughter’s independence, but also her own.

Yet as friends, ex-lovers, adventures, and opportunities emerge, Catherine begins to realize that her life will not end with her daughter’s departure, but begin anew. With wit, charm, and candor, she reveals her journey of rediscovering herself through one of life’s most universal transitions, including the lesson that letting go doesn’t have to mean losing those you love.

Catherine Goldhammer is a graduate of Goddard College and was a poetry fellow in the fine arts program at the University of Massachusetts. She has been published in the Georgia Review and the Ohio Review.