We live in a world where women are still mostly seen as second class, where our beauty is our currency and our aging bodies render us somewhat invisible.

Women are powerful, especially as we get older, when we begin to care less about the external. We forget the society standard and turn our back on the beauty stamp of approval . . .

Now that I've crossed that invisible line into menopause, into the second half of my life, I look around me in wonder . . . and sometimes despair. It's a challenge to not see yourself the way your culture sees you.

Every woman will eventually go through menopause - that's half the population of the planet! And yet it's something that is still not fully explored. It's held in shame by some women and ignored by others. It can be devastating to some and a call to freedom for others. After going through her own 'change', Ali Daddo wanted to explore all the feelings around menopause and especially the post-menopausal years that so many women talk about as being 'the best years of their life'.

Through sharing her own experience in a very real way, Ali hopes that women won't feel so alone in what can be a very lonely time. Alongside stories from some very well known Australian women, including Georgie Parker, Anita Heiss and Rhonda Burchmore, Queen Menopause is the book Ali wishes she'd had when she was approaching menopause - so she could have been better prepared for what was coming, embraced the process and felt supported.

This is for all women.