Introduction

In 2004, people at the tail end of the baby boomer generation finally turned 40 - myself included. To celebrate this fact, I conceived and wrote a major article for a well-known Australian health magazine about what turning 40 meant to women at that time. The article covered a number of topics including health, sex, babies, careers, and fashion. I interviewed a number of experts about each topic, searched for pertinent quotes from women about turning 40, and spoke to some real women about what it meant to them. 

Although it had a serious side to it, I wrote the article with some humour, and with a strong desire for it to be entertaining as well as informative. The feedback I received surprised me - the article was really well received, and women indicated that they really wanted to know more about this important stuff!

In truth, in the article I'd only been able to scratch the surface of what are important topics for women, and fortysomething women in particular. And since that article, I frequently toyed with the idea of expanding the basic concept into an in-depth book. Many people I know - friends, experts I’ve interviewed, media colleagues, and women I’ve met in their forties - were also supportive of the idea. Then in 2008, Australia’s favourite pop icon, Kylie Minogue, turned 40 bringing the subject of being female and 40 today back into the spotlight.

I felt the time was right to start really exploring what it means to be a woman and in her forties today. And how to be fabulous! They say 50 is the new 40, which makes 40 the new 30......and as I have discovered personally, for the countless numbers of women out there approaching or just entering their 40s, life is far from over.....in fact it has only just begun.....

by Joanna E. Hall