Widows and Divorcees in Later Life: On Their Own Again. Carol L. Jenkins (ed). New York: Haworth Press Inc., 2003, $24.95 pb, 202 pp. ISBN: 0-7890-2192-7

This book is a Journal of Women and Ageing monographic ‘ separate’, which means it has been published simultaneously as a journal double-issue and a ‘separate’ book. It aims to shed new light on the lives of older widows and divorcees and the problems they face in making the transition to life without a partner, ‘on their own again’.

Whilst a monographic separate might be a quick way of producing a book, I found it makes a dissatisfying and uncomfortable read. It feels like reading a series of papers, broadly linked - yes, but not moulded into a coherent whole, and interrupted by footnotes and notes; regrettably, presentation distracts from content.

Setting these reservations aside, what did I learn from the book?

I learned about the different family structures and living arrangements of older women in a variety of communities within the Philippines and Fiji, in Africa - South of the Sahara and in different ethnic groups in the USA. Even the question of who is a widow (or widower) is fraught with complexities in some societies. Polygamy is still widespread in some parts of Africa, and means that a man can lose his wife and still remain married. A further complication is that in some African cultures widows ‘remarry’ in widow inheritance ‘marriages’ (where a woman becomes the ‘ property’ of the lineage so that when her husband dies he is succeeded by one of his male relatives). Are they then wives or widows?

I learned also about the social circumstances, economic situation and physical health of some of these women. The only British paper examines transitions to supported environments (including both supported private households and institutions) among widowed and divorced older women in England and Wales. It reports that although the overall rate of transitions was the same in the two decades between 1971 and 1991, the balance shifted towards institutional care settings in the second decade.

The book raises many questions. While these women have lost their partner, they still have a wide range of supports, including help from family and friends, religious beliefs and supportive social policies. The editor concludes (despite the title) that the majority of older widows and divorcees are not truly on their own again.