The Unexpected Joy of Being Single

by Catherine Gray

Overview

From the Sunday Times bestselling author

'This refreshing, unusual book needs to exist. A culture shift which repositions a single person as someone who is relationship-free, complete, and not lacking is long overdue.' - The i

'Absolutely f*cking brilliant' - Florence Given

Having a secret single freak-out? Feeling the red, heart-shaped urgency intensify as the years roll on by? Oh hi! You're in the right place.

Over half of Brits aged 25-44 are now single. It's become the norm to remain solo until much later in life, given the average marriage ages of 35 (women) and 38 (men). Many of us are choosing never to marry at all.
But society, films, song lyrics and our parents are adamant that a happy ending has to be couple-shaped. That we're incomplete without an 'other half'*, like a bisected panto pony. Cue: single sorrow. Dating like it's a job. Spending half our lives waiting for somebody-we-fancy to text us back. Feeling haunted by the terms 'spinster' or 'confirmed bachelor.'

Catherine Gray took a whole year off dating to find single satisfaction. She lifted the lid on the reasons behind the global single revolution, explored the bizarre ways cultures single-shame, detached from 'all the good ones are gone!' panic and debunked the myth that married people are much happier.

Let's start the reverse brainwash, in order to locate - and luxuriate in - single happiness. Are you in?

*Spoiler: you're already whole

PRAISE FOR CATHERINE GRAY'S WRITING:

"Fascinating." - Bryony Gordon

"Not remotely preachy." - The Times

"Jaunty, shrewd and convincing." - The Telegraph

"Admirably honest, light, bubbly and remarkably rarely annoying." - The Guardian

"Truthful, modern and real." - Stylist

"Brave, witty and brilliantly written." - Marie Claire

"Haunting, admirable and enlightening." - The Pool

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781783253135
Publisher:	Octopus
Publication date:	12/27/2018
Series:	The Unexpected Joy Of , #2
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	381,111
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Catherine Gray is a Sunday Times bestselling author of five books, including The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober. She's sold over half a million books in English-speaking territories, her work has been published in the likes of Stylist, Marie Claire, The Lancet Psychiatry and the Guardian, and her books have been translated into nine languages. In 2018, Catherine founded charitable campaign Sober Spring, a three-month sabbatical from alcohol, and she now runs it with Alcohol Change UK, for whom she is an ambassador. She's been sober since 2013. Catherine lives in Hove and when not writing she enjoys falling off a paddleboard, giving her plants names like 'Cassandra' and 'Miguel', and spamming Instagram with pictures of dogs.

Instagram.com/unexpectedjoyof
Twitter.com/cathgraywrites

Table of Contents

Preface 8

Drunk on Love 11

Introduction 13

I The Making of a Love Addict 18

II The Undoing of a Love Addict 44

III Locating Single Sanity 56

IV Growing Single Joy 84

V Demolishing Socially-Constructed Single Fear 104

VI I Forget and Re-Learn Lessons 121

VII Therapy Opens Doors in My Head 164

VIII Who are Single People, Anyway? 187

IX The 'Happily-Ever-After' Marriage Myth 195

X Colour Yourself in Completely 211

XI How to Date in Moderation 218

XII The Single Happy-Ever-After 241

Sources 262

Index 267

Acknowledgements 272