cover image Marry Smart: The Intelligent Woman's Guide to True Love

Marry Smart: The Intelligent Woman's Guide to True Love

Christine B. Whelan, . . Simon & Schuster, $15 (282pp) ISBN 978-0-7432-9040-1

Whelan has good news for high-achieving women in their 30s and 40s anxious about why “Mr. Right” has not appeared. Drawing on the latest demographic findings and her own interviews with 100 men and women nationwide, sociologist and journalist Whelan (Why Smart Men Marry Smart Women ) argues persuasively that educated ambitious women, whom Whelan dubs SWANS (Strong Women Achievers, No Spouse), marry in the same numbers as other women though they marry significantly later. The snippets of interviews personalize the data, but while Whelan always sounds positive, many of the high-earning women she talks to are struggling to maintain balance in their lives and often feel lonely. Whelan advocates that women remain in the workplace after giving birth, debunking media reports of highly educated women flocking home. (Jan.)