Quilt on Fire: The Messy Magic of Friends, Sex & Love

This book met with mixed reviews from the group. We enjoyed some of her anecdotes but all felt it was a bit self indulgent on the part of the author, and HRT is not the cure-all for everybody

This is a book about the trials and tribulations of being a woman in midlife, focusing particularly on the perimenopause phase. It is written from the personal experience of the author and is punctuated with numerous anecdotal stories.

Personally I had never heard of the perimenopause but it seems to be an extended version of the menopause. Having read this book I now know quite a lot about it and the symptoms which accompany it. The jaunty writing style makes this book easy to read and it is very frank and candid.

Despite the engaging writing style, I found this book a bit of a hard slog. Possibly because it was so far away from my experience of the menopause that it seemed like a fairy tale, something I couldn’t relate to at all.
At times Christie is so brutally honest that I felt quite uncomfortable reading it and couldn’t imagine that her children would be happy with the level of exposure which she revealed about her personal life.

I’m not sure if I would recommend this book as it didn’t resonate with me personally. Other people may have different experiences of the perimenopausal time of life which may make the book more relevant to them.

The author shares her experiences of the peri- menopause in this book. Wincingly open and honest, I both gasped and laughed out loud at several points in this book. No subject is off limits. I don't think I've ever read anything like this before. A book by a woman for women. Highly entertaining and informative.

Brilliant book about women in their 40's going through Peri-menopause. In the last few years women are beginning to be open about the effects of Menopause on their lives but Peri-Menopause is rarely discussed. This book is an eyeopening description of symptoms written in a humorous way.

I enjoyed most of the book but would have enjoyed it more if the author would stop constantly bringing in her personal angelic nursing career.

Apart from some annoying bits the majority of the book was brilliantly written in a witty way. I would recommend any woman to read it.

Menopause strikes fear in the hearts and minds of many women and the people in their lives. It is a time of sometimes drastic symptoms both mental and physical. We all know about it and have heard about it and dread having to go through it but that's okay. I happens when we are older not in the prime of life. What nobody talks knew much about until recently was peri-menopause, that time period before menopause when the body is "practicing" what's going to happen during menopause. All of a sudden your body and mind are doing crazy things causing serious doubts about being seriously ill or mentally losing it. That is what this book by Christie Watson is about.
The author recounts her journey and the tales of her friends as they face this bewildering time of life. Sometimes it is a depressing read and sometimes it is hysterical. This is a story of the journey through mid-life forcing one to face what has happened in the past and what the future may hold with its possibilities of things to come.

Quilt on Fire follows this 40-something author into the dark and rarely headlined world of peri menopause; into the mystery of midlife, and the impact this has on women.
The first couple of chapters I found to be honest, grey, fearful and a little depressing. There was much discussion about how women change, how nobody talks it, and how nobody told the author about it. Or at least she wasn’t listening if they did.
I would have liked more information on being a nurse - mentioned numerous times - but only in the second half did the author delve a bit deeper into one of her professions, especially during Covid. This was fascinating.
The book is well written and as the story progresses it picks up pace and is very readable. I found myself enjoying the story and liking the main character - the author - much more as I read on. The story is full of entertaining bits about herself, her kids, mum, Grape Nan and her range of interesting and likeable friends.
Whilst the beginning isn’t particularly happy or uplifting, it is informative and insightful about the impact hormones and midlife can have on women. It sets the stage. As the story develops and the author opens up, with the help of her therapist, we see a much more content and accepting person.
I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone questioning midlife, wanting to know about peri menopause and the potential changes underway. As Watson says, peri menopause is a time for reflection, re-evaluation and a search for a new identity. Too true.