If you’re a single mother who feels as though you’re at you wit’s end, then have no fear. Simply grab a copy of The Single Mother’s Survival Guide(2000) by Patrice Karst and get to reading. The book is a hard-to-put-down voyage, one that will lead you along an exciting path of self-discovery.
Patrice Karst is herself a single mom, so she knows a thing or two about the ropes. In her book, she relays heaps of hard-hitting (yet fun) advice that single mothers all over the world can benefit from exponentially. The topics that the book tackles range from living life and raising kids without a devoted partner to speak of, to achieving your goals and dreams while walking your path alone.
In addition to the helpful advice, Karst adds in lots of easy-to-use “survival checklists” that cover subjects such as reasons to be happy living life as a single mom – to methods for coping with exhaustion. The Single Mother’s Survival Guide doesn’t stop there, however.
It also packs inspirational blurbs and single mom wisdom at every page turn. The book helps single moms everywhere define goals for themselves, affirm their mission in life, and learn to have gratitude for the things they’re blessed with: Primarily the children who love them.
What Editors Have to Say about The Single Mother’s Survival Guide
According to one editorial review about The Single Mother’s Survival Guide that appeared on Amazon.com, single moms have very few books out there that serve as “go-to” resources for their lives. Karst sought to change all that, because she was deeply disturbed when she found that most literature for moms out there today either demoralized the lifestyle or ignored single moms altogether.
This wrong has officially been corrected with the publication of Patrice Karst’s The Single Mother’s Survival Guide.
According to the reviewer, Karst designed this book around the plight of the single mom by offering sympathy for her – commiserating about how hard it is to get a moment alone, among other ills. When a single mom picks up the book, she’s almost immediately consoled, and with good reason.
Almost every page of the book houses heaps of inspiration for single moms, and it tackles issues while keeping things positive – but not so positive it’s sickeningly sweet. The positivity is good, but the book also keeps it real. For example, she features a list entitled, “Reasons to be Happy about Being a Single Mom” and the first item therein simply reads, “Because it’s happening.” Powerful stuff.
Subjects tackled in Karst’s book include issues surrounding childcare and dating, among other problems that single mothers suffer with the most. The book is not preachy or condescending – since it’s written from the point-of-view of a single mom, there’s no judgment to be found anywhere on the pages.
What Real Women are Saying About the Book
Women who have purchased this book have raved about it. One woman noted that she’s grateful that the book provided her with the basics of life management as a single mom. In this reviewer’s opinion, most single mom books are geared toward divorced women. She was sick and tired of seeing this trend, so she found it refreshing to pick up a book focused on single moms in general as opposed to divorced single moms.
She said that she read the book many times and still refers to various sections that she has bookmarked often as issues arise in her personal life.
However, the book is still great for divorced single moms too. Another reviewer noted that she herself was a divorced mom left with the kids, and she uses the book as motivation routinely as well. She said the compassion and humor was a refreshing change to see in an otherwise bleak subject matter. She also noted that it helped her gather enough strength to make plans for the future. She especially liked the part about learning how to say no to people.
This book is no dry, textbook guide. It’s empathy in pen. It’s a shoulder to lean on, a help hand from a woman who lives the life. Sometimes, that’s exactly the thing that single moms need the most: Some understanding. That’s where this book delivers.
Notes from an Interview with the Author
A WebMD interview with Patrice Karst revealed her reasons behind writing the book. She said that she had trouble finding books that “spoke to her” when she was looking for guidance during the toughest parts of her own journey as a single mother. She didn’t want to buy one of the countless “how-to” guides on the market – to her, they were a dime a dozen.
Instead, Karst said she simply wanted a guide for single moms like herself that helped her feel like she was not alone. That, she said, she could not find – which is why she decided to write one. She calls herself the quintessential single mother because she had no family or friends nearby when she was raising her small children, so she was completely on her own 24/7 – in every sense of the word.
That’s why she needed some help, some guidance… and she knew other mothers would need help, too. That’s exactly what she sought to provide in her book, and according to reviews on Amazon.com, she hit a homerun.
Karst thinks that the most painful part of a single mom’s journey is that no one offers help, at least in her experience. She always had to ask for it. In her book, she urges other single moms to have the courage to ask – she assures readers that their lives will be much easier as a result. She says that our society does not value single mothers at all, and that’s why single mothers need to unite in order to help one another as often and as selflessly as they can.