While I hadn’t previously heard of this author, I can assure you that the best day to start reading Maye Musk’s autobiography is today. A WOMAN MAKES A PLAN is a great title, based on the Boer proverb, "a farmer makes a plan." Maye tells us of her childhood with two adventurous Canadians who settled in South Africa and raised a resourceful family. Through many moves and career changes, degrees, and childrearing, she largely supported herself.

The subtitle of this book, "Advice for a Lifetime of Adventure, Beauty, and Success," further adds to the depth of the novel. Maye speaks in a calm voice as she tells of her early work as a model, her success and happiness, and the marriage she did not want to a husband who began physically abusing her at once. When she was allowed to divorce by a change in the law, he threatened her and their children appallingly. I can’t see why any man should feel so small that he has to stand on someone to feel taller. This man was an absolute control freak who still tried to control their family after the divorce. Maye courageously ended up moving with her children, Elon, Kimbal, and Tosca, putting their safety first.

Every time Maye moved she had to start again, gaining new qualifications as a dietitian and new friends. From this example, her children were not afraid to move and preceded her to Canada. We now know her son Elon Musk through PayPal, Tesla, and SpaceX. He started by winning money from a PC magazine for a game he’d written at thirteen and worked for Microsoft before designing a map system with his brother. Kimbal later diverged into whole food cooking and Tosca became an actress and filmmaker.   

The story is Maye’s, however. Her resilience and reinventing herself while continuing to model regardless of age. Maye has been featured in Time Magazine and is a CoverGirl model at age 71. She dispenses sound advice about eating wholegrain bread, fruits and vegetables, more beans and less meat, and not having too much alcohol. Her figure hasn’t always been perfect, and she tells us why – stresses and unhappiness, for instance. Once she followed her own good advice, she returned to the elegance and poise for which models are renowned.  We can all follow this advice; follow too the advice from her heart, from her decades of experience. Get out of a bad situation; if nothing is changing and you are unhappy, you change; don’t be afraid to move; start again and get out and make friends. Eat well and move more. A WOMAN MAKES A PLAN can be read and enjoyed by anyone, regardless of gender or age.