ABOUT ME
An introduction to Danielle Barbereau
My life has taught me not to do what is expected of me and to forge my own path, however difficult it may seem. I believe that we can only find happiness when we are true to ourselves.
At the age of 55, I moved away from a 20-year career in senior roles within higher education and trained as a coach. Since founding my coaching practice in 2010 as the UK’s first specialist divorce coach, I have worked with over 1,600 clients.
My first book After the Split (2015), now in its second edition (2020), is about surviving the immediate aftermath of a separation. Grey Matters is my first novel.
I was inspired to write this novel because, particularly as a WASPI woman, I continue to be aggrieved at how easily older women can be dismissed, invisible or subject to ridicule. This is very topical: WASPI women being denied pension compensation, and Gregg Wallace blaming ‘middle class women of a certain age’ for his downfall. I find very few examples of positive ageing in the media.
My writing is rooted in what I have learned through my life and my coaching. I have a deep understanding of how relationships work, and my writing is saturated with this experience.
The themes I explore in my writing include the many reasons women become strong; starting a new life; belonging; love and friendships as we age; how the past shapes us but does not define us; finding ourselves and challenging expectations; violence against women, control and coercion; relationship breakups; mothering - especially as single mothers – and family estrangement.
Originally French, I find that after decades in the UK I can only write in English, and I currently share my time between Edinburgh and Northumberland. I am an Age Without Limits champion and a passionate supporter of the WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality) campaign.
MY FIRST NOVEL