A review by hannahebartholomew
The Bitch in the House: 26 Women Tell the Truth about Sex, Solitude, Work, Motherhood, and Marriage by Cathi Hanauer

3.0

The Bitch in the House is a compilation of essays covering the topic of female and maternal rage. In stark contrast with Virginia Woolf’s “Angel in the House”, the Bitch is so busy, overwhelmed, and overworked, that she can’t find time to enjoy her own life and occasionally wonders why she ever wanted children in the first place. The book is divided in to four sections and subcategories- Me, Myself, and I (young women contemplating the lives ahead of them), For Better and Worse (marriage and the many meanings women and society associate with marriage), Mommy Maddest (the contemporary struggle to balance children and a career), and finally, Look at Me Now (words of wisdom from older women). While each section was amusing, I found the most substance in the last section. Some of the younger writers struck me as whiny, entitled, and self absorbed. Look at Me Now is full of gratitude, wisdom, and the kind of self awareness that one can only possess after fifty years or sixty years of life. One piece that I enjoyed was about striving to find balance during chaos. I’m not completely sure how old Gilchrist was when she wrote this essay, but she most certainly came of age long before most of the authors in the previous sections. Here is her closing line and the most valuable piece of advice- “In the end happiness is always a balance. I hope the young women of our fortunate world find ways to balance their young lives. I hope they learn to rejoice and wait.”