cover image Good Enough Is the New Perfect: Finding Happiness and Success in Modern Motherhood

Good Enough Is the New Perfect: Finding Happiness and Success in Modern Motherhood

Becky Beaupre Gillespie and Hollee Schwartz Temple. Harlequin, $16.95 trade paper (288p) ISBN 978-0-373-89237-2

Gillespie, a journalist, and Temple, a lawyer, explore modern motherhood and family/work balance in this examination of a new generation of mothers battling the conflicting pushes and pulls of career goals and mothering roles. The authors, who both left their jobs and forged new career paths after having children, surveyed more than 900 working mothers (most were college educated and financially secure), born between the years of 1965 and 1980. Many of these women, the offspring of baby boomers, were competitive perfectionists, attempting to have and do it all. But, the authors discovered, those mothers who had a "good enough" rather than "never enough" attitude toward their lives were happier and more successful. In fact, Gillespie and Temple argue, redefining success (but not "settling") and creating careers that match both personal and professional goals is crucial if mothers are to finally throw off the cloak of dissatisfaction and inner conflict that has so often defined the lives of women in past generations. Along with their personal stories, the authors include brief profiles of a number of women who have shaped their own careers, either by pursuing entrepreneurial dreams or by exploring flexible schedules, often using technology to extend job boundaries and options. Gillespie and Temple provide inspiring examples for contemporary mothers striving to find balance and happiness within work and family life. (May)