The topic of this book is going to make some people squeamish and maybe uncomfortable but if menopause is the inevitable, why not learn about it in somewhat fun and interesting way? I listened to this audiobook while going on my audiobook walks during the last few weeks.
Published in January of 2025, Naomi Watts dives into her newest venture, talking publicly about menopause.
Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I’d Known About Menopause by Naomi Watts
Genre: Health Nonfiction. 256 pages.
You might ask yourself, what makes British/ Australian actress Naomi Watts qualified to talk about this subject? As she writes in the book, she started going through her transition at relatively young age, 36. She found out that she was in perimenopause when she was trying to conceive her first child. Her doctor informed her that she might have trouble conceiving because her body appeared to be in the early stages on menopause. By her early 40’s she had “hardcore symptoms” but she felt like she had no community from where to seek advice. So she made it her mission to increase visibility about this change in life that every woman goes through. In 2024, she started her brand called Stripes Beauty which sells menopause wellness products. And at age 56, she published a book about her personal story interspersed with up-to-date women’s health information from doctors and health professionals who study menopause.
Here is what I liked about listening to this audiobook:
Naomi Watts narrates this book in her naturally British accent, which I thought was interesting to listen to. I enjoyed hearing about her personal story where she seems to talk about her life honestly. She writes lulls in her careers, crises of faith, and her infertility struggles. She includes information about her relationship with her children’s father, Liev Schreiber and how there struggle to get pregnant affected their relationship. She writes about her new husband, Billy Crudup and how they both married for the first time at age 54. She writes about how menopause symptom have affected both of these relationships.
She makes you feel connected with her personal stories as well as the personal stories of other women who are included in the book. It is informative and includes many quotes from menopause health professionals, so do not fear that this book is too antidotal. She also includes information from health professionals about hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and her experiences with it. There are also sections about health, skincare, sleep, hydration, sex, mindset, mental health and life after menopause that are both told from her prospective and with facts from experts. At 6 hours and 50 minutes, this audiobook, felt comfortable for me, in length. It is neither too brief nor too long. I might have gotten tired of the subject if I listened a much longer book on menopause.
As a library professional, I would recommend this book because it is approachable, up-to-date (published in 2025), and contains information from experts in the field of menopause and women’s health.
The only things that I didn’t like like about the book:
I very much enjoyed this book but there were a few times when I was waiting for the current chapter to end and the next chapter to start. One example is when Naomi Watts went on a little too long about skin care routines and makeup during and after menopause. I do recognize that people who are not me might have larger needs for makeup and skincare than I do. I also recognize that Ms. Watts owns a menopause wellness company so she is selling of the products that she recommends. However, while I was listening I started feel like that section was turning into a commercial for her products. Ditto for the chapter on plastic surgery and methods people use to recontour their bodies and faces after menopause.
She used a lot of quotes from experts to give authority to her writing. This was a good thing, because while she is a speaker and mouth piece for the cause of menopause, she is not an expert authority in studying menopause or women’s health. Occasionally though, there were almost too many quotes from experts. One chapter, towards the end of the book started, to remind me of reading an informative paper written by a high school student because just seemed to one quote after another.
All and all, I am glad that I listened to it this book. I borrowed it on Libby from my local library. It is also available in hardback, paperback and in eBook format.
Pick it up at your local library or bookstore.
Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I’d Known About Menopause. Naomi Watts. Release Date: January 21, 2025. Published by: Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House. $14.50 in hardcover. Reached #7 on New York Times Best Seller List (Combined print and e-book nonfiction).
