Estelle Erasmus, an award-winning journalist and 2025 TEDx Speaker, is the author of
Writing That Gets Noticed (named a "Best Book for Writers" by
Poets & Writers Magazine),
as well as the host/executive producer of the podcast Freelance Writing Direct. She is an adjunct instructor for NYU’s School of Professional Studies/Center for Publishing and Applied Liberal Arts, and has written for over 150 publications, including the
New York Times,
Next Avenue,
WIRED,
Slate,
The Independent, the
Washington Post, and
AARP: The Magazine.
At Electric Lit Erasmus tagged nine memoirs that "offer a realistic counterpoint to Valentine’s Day myths, and a clearer understanding of what it really meant to search for love." One title on the list:
And You May Find Yourself... by Sari Botton
Sari Botton’s memoir-in-essays speaks directly to her experience of reevaluating love, ambition, desire, and reinvention later in life, when familiar
romantic narratives no longer fit. The memoir moves between youthful missteps made to fit in with mean girls, misguided efforts to please men, fraught friendships, and professional dissatisfaction, alongside a present-day reckoning with who she has become. Botton writes with humor and clarity about bad therapists, “Mr. Wrongs,” and the exhaustion of contorting herself to meet expectations that were never really hers. As old identities fall away, she explores how desire shifts with age and self-acceptance. Grounded in feminist reflection and emotional honesty, the book offers a reassuring perspective, showing that intimacy and fulfillment can emerge from inhabiting one’s authentic self, flaws and all, with patience and self-awareness. Once Botton reaches that realization, she ultimately finds the intimacy she was seeking in a satisfying relationship and marriage.
Read about
the other entries on the list at Electric Lit.
--Marshal Zeringue
as well as the host/executive producer of the podcast Freelance Writing Direct. She is an adjunct instructor for NYU’s School of Professional Studies/Center for Publishing and Applied Liberal Arts, and has written for over 150 publications, including the New York Times, Next Avenue, WIRED, Slate, The Independent, the Washington Post, and AARP: The Magazine.
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