The Girl Within

In their efforts to make their way in careers and the world, many women neglect their inner selves, according to Hancock, a California psychotherapist. She maintains that a woman's most authentic sense of identity crystallizes between ages eight and 10, when a girl is least molded by patriarchy and begins to define her own values and needs with some degree of independence. In a thoughtful self-help guide that may lead women into a reexamination of their lives, Hancock generalizes from case studies of 20 women, mostly middle-class professionals. Some had submerged their identities through over-dedication to a husband or a job. Assuming an active, caring role in adult life helped some of them rediscover ``the girl within,'' while others achieved wholeness by sorting out priorities or understanding their relationships with their mothers. Author tour. (Nov.)