The Next Day

 

The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward by Melinda French Gates

Nonfiction - Memoir

2025

Finished on November 19, 2025

Rating: 4.5/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

In a rare window into some of her life’s pivotal moments, Melinda French Gates draws from previously untold stories to offer a new perspective on encountering transitions.

During times of transition, we step out of our familiar surroundings and into a new landscape, a space that can be filled with possibility but also shadowed by uncertainty. The Next Day accompanies readers through that space, offering guidance to anyone--young or old--who is navigating change, finding their bearings, or trying to move forward when the ground beneath them is shifting. 

In this deeply personal book, Melinda writes about the joyful upheaval of becoming a parent, the death of a close friend, her life after divorce, and her departure from the Gates Foundation. Sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, the stories she tells illuminate universal lessons about loosening the bonds of perfectionism, helping friends through times of crisis, trusting your inner voice, and more. Melinda also introduces readers to some of the authors, poets, and thinkers whose work she had leaned on for wisdom and comfort in moments of need.

Each one of us, no matter who we are or where we are life, is headed toward a transition of our own. With her signature warmth and grace, Melinda empowers readers to make the most of the space between an ending and a new beginning and find the courage and confidence to embrace a new day.

I was not expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did! Easily read in one sitting, Melinda Gates' memoir is conversational and engaging. The author acknowledges her position of privilege, and yet she comes across as a very humble and kind-hearted human being. 

Some passages of note:

You don't get to be my age without navigating all kinds of transitions. Some you anticipated and some you never expected. Some you embraced and some you resisted. Some you hoped for and some you fought as hard as you could. 

Still though, I believe that there are many aspects of the human experience that are universal. All of us want to feel a sense of ownership over our lives and our stories. All of us want to make meaning of the events we live through--the bitter and the sweet. All of us long for connection and the chance to be fully known.

Often when I've found myself in unfamiliar waters, I have reached across time and space to find something to buoy me in words written by someone else, sometimes someone who lived and died before I was born, someone with whom I have nothing obvious in common. In those moments, I'm glad that these people took the time to write about the things that mattered to them.

As a society, we often ascribe a certain virtue to people's lifelong dreams, as if those are, for some reason, more authentic or worthwhile than the dreams and aspirations we develop later in life. The truth, though, as Reverend McCaulley explains, is that there's important value in being willing to change your plans as your understanding of the world expands and grows more complex. Sometimes, the best thing you can do for yourself and the people around you is to have the wisdom to know which dreams to let go of in order to make room for something new. Some dreams undoubtedly propel us forward, but others hold us back. The trick is learning to distinguish between the two--and, when you decide an old dream no longer serves you, finding the courage to slip its bonds.

... wherever we are in life, we should find a way to look back at the versions of ourselves who came before us not with shame or regret but with tenderness and compassion. The people we used to be deserve for us to remember that they knew so much less, had experienced so much less, and were doing the best they could with what they had. 

While Melinda shares candid glimpses into her personal life (the loss of a dear friend, a difficult childbirth that reminded me of my own, and a very brief mention of her divorce), The Next Day is less of a memoir and more of an inspirational read. It has the feel of a series of wise TED Talks, which is not a criticism. Fans of Kelly Corrigan, Dani Shapiro, and Anna Quindlen will appreciate this work. I enjoyed each chapter and will return to this slim book in the future for a second reading.

Highly recommend.