Reinventing Love After Divorce: Katrina Robinson’s Midlife Second Act

Katrina Robinson’s story is not a fairy tale and not a cautionary one: it’s a map. It shows that loss in midlife doesn’t signal the end of love, purpose, or possibility, but the beginning of a second, often truer chapter.

For Crunchy Ladies everywhere, her life is proof that visibility can be reclaimed, confidence rebuilt, and joy rediscovered, not by going back to who you were, but by becoming who you still have time to be.

Starting over after midlife divorce

In midlife, Katrina discovered a truth many women learn the hardest way possible: a marriage that appears loving, affectionate, and secure can still end without warning. Her husband, someone who enjoyed her company, bought her beautiful lingerie, and celebrated anniversaries with tenderness, one day said simply: “Sorry. I’ve fallen in love with someone else.”

The shock was devastating. Katrina didn’t just lose a partner; she lost an entire shared world. With the marriage went a treasured connection to aviation, a deeply valued Irish heritage, and the early promise of her writing career. She was forced to retrain and re-enter the full-time job market, something far more challenging in midlife than it had been in her twenties.

“Tragically, it’s not only possible—it’s banal,” Katrina says to CrunchyTales. “It happens every day of the week. But I told myself it mustn’t be allowed to ruin the rest of my life.”

At first, the odds felt stacked against her.

“I was no longer young. I’d never been considered pretty. I was shy, unconfident, and didn’t earn much,” she recalls. “But I discovered that it is entirely possible to reinvent yourself and become a later bloomer.” In the raw aftermath of divorce, Katrina made herself a promise: “If I get through this successfully, and end up happy and fulfilled, I’ll write to pass on anything I learn that might help other women in the same boat.”

That promise became Part 2 Of Your (Love) Life: a project, a philosophy, and ultimately a lifeline for women navigating heartbreak, reinvention, and the search for love later in life.

Nearly ten years after becoming a single divorcée, Katrina met a single, divorced man through a walking (hiking) group. He would later become her second husband. “Looking back now, it takes my breath away,” she says. “All the things I thought I’d lost forever came back to me—full circle. None of it was planned.”

Today, Katrina is on a mission to help women rebuild confidence after divorce, offering grounded, practical guidance on ‘meeting quality men by becoming a quality woman first’.

Katrina, what makes you a “Crunchy Lady”?

I’m a married 60-year-old former Black Country girl who works as a freelance writer and library assistant at an Oxford college, with a twist in my tale. Dumped and divorced in midlife, I was shattered. But I told myself it mustn’t be allowed to ruin the rest of my life. I promised myself: “If I get through this successfully and end up happy and fulfilled, I’ll write to pass on anything I learn that might help other women.”

What do you like most about getting older, and how has your second act in midlife unfolded?

Letting go of the burden of full-time work and focusing on where I flourish best. I now work from home, creating Part 2 Of Your (Love) Life for women who might find it useful.

Best advice to your younger self

You’re proud to call yourself a feminist, right? Great. But as with any mass movement, don’t swallow the whole story unthinkingly. Be discerning about its pros and cons.

Favourite book?

I read around 40 books a year. My favourites change often, but they’re usually written by Crunchy Ladies of the past, women rediscovered and republished by presses like Persephone Books in the UK and Quite Literally Books in the US.

Something not on your official bio?

At school I was known as “The Girl With the Big Shiny Nose.” In the end, it didn’t hold me back.

Katrina Robinsons is a freelance journalist, writer, founder of ‘Part 2 Of Your Love Life’ and Cover-Lady Of The Week. Want to be one of our Crunchy Cover Ladies? Each week, we spotlight an inspiring woman over 50 with a bespoke illustration and a feature in our newsletter. Follow us on Instagram to learn more.

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