A barrel of laughs from start to finish- thoroughly recommend it.

Self-contained is a beautiful account of how life can be lived to the full, whether or not it contains a partner or children. Emma John writes warmly and with wry humour about the single life and makes you feel seen and that you're not alone. More please!

Adventures and heartbreak and in the end, resolve, to live this life, taking up the spa e and not making a partnered shape that someone needs to fit in. The pain and the joy, when sometimes life makes choices for us we might not. More like this please

This is a great read. As usual from this writer, you find yourself thinking about the book's themes long after you've turned the final page, as well as laughing out loud while you're reading it. It's an entertaining, witty, at times heart-breaking, page-turner of a book, which at the same time offers a serious reflection on an often-marginalised topic. There's a lot in here to relate to and to make the reader think twice. I'm looking forward to reading it again in a couple of years.

I really wanted to like this book because she has chosen an interesting subject and I liked previous articles from this authors but somehow I found this lacking. I think there is so much to be said and explored on a life unpartnered with no kids and a woman making this choice and what this means in terms of work, travel, family etc. I wish she had explored this more rather than just focusing on anecdotes from her life and how much fun she was having with her single friends and travelling etc. I think I just would have liked less of the descriptions of her experiences and more on her internal thoughts on the truth, fears, worries, quiet joy etc that single life brings. I am myself a single woman without children and feel there is a such a lack of commentary and voices to represent us. Well done to Emma John for trying but I had hoped for a slightly less self indulgence and more genuine curiosity, maybe bringing other women's voices in as well as hers.