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That Certain Age
Discover the witty and wonderful story of two unlikely women whose lives are woven together, from the bestselling author of The New Mrs CliftonBarbara and Siena - two women living fifty years apart.Both constrained by choice; one has too little and one has too much.Siena, a 21st century woman, has so far managed to avoid the tick of the biological clock. Without children she can control her own wonderful, ordered life. Only thing is, her husband Charlie longs for a baby . . .In 1959, Barbara has been married to Ryder, an airline pilot, for twenty-four years. Her life happily revolves around her house and family. But when she meets the young and brilliant Alexander, he shows her that she has a mind and a life of her own . . .The intimate, inner lives of two women are intertwined as they struggle to find resolution - between the families they love and their own desires.Praise for Elizabeth 'Gorgeously well-written - funny, sad, sophisticated' Independent'Beautifully observed, with the insight and humour that one has come to expect from the author' Times'Compelling, compassionate, and aglow with moments of laugh-or-cry humour' Mail on Sunday'Buchan is a cut above the rest' Sunday Mirror
305 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 15, 2004
68 people are currently reading
606 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Buchan
51 books307 followersElizabeth Buchan began her career as a blurb writer at Penguin Books after graduating from the University of Kent with a double degree in English and History. She moved on to become a fiction editor at Random House before leaving to write full time. Her novels include the prizewinning Consider the Lily – reviewed in the Independent as ‘a gorgeously well written tale: funny, sad and sophisticated’. A subsequent novel, Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman became an international bestseller and was made into a CBS Primetime Drama. Later novels included The Second Wife, Separate Beds and Daughters. Her latest, I Can’t Begin to Tell You, a story of resistance in wartime Denmark, was published by Penguin in August 2014.
Elizabeth Buchan’s short stories are broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and published in magazines. She reviews for the Sunday Times and the Daily Mail, and has chaired the Betty Trask and Desmond Elliot literary prizes, and also been a judge for the Whitbread First Novel Award and for 2014 Costa Novel Award. She is a patron of the Guildford Book Festival and of The National Academy of Writing, and sits on the author committee for The Reading Agency.
Elizabeth Buchan’s short stories are broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and published in magazines. She reviews for the Sunday Times and the Daily Mail, and has chaired the Betty Trask and Desmond Elliot literary prizes, and also been a judge for the Whitbread First Novel Award and for 2014 Costa Novel Award. She is a patron of the Guildford Book Festival and of The National Academy of Writing, and sits on the author committee for The Reading Agency.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 124 reviews
May 12, 2015
I found the two stories to be interesting yet there just wasn't enough to help connect me to what was going on in either timeframe. I felt like the book ended and I wasn't satisfied. I will read the other book I purchased by this author and hope for a different outcome :|
November 4, 2007
Is motherhood a blessing or a curse? Should it be considered a right or an obligation? And when it comes to the role of motherhood, has anything changed in the last 40 years, or are things still basically the same?
Elizabeth Buchnan seems to think that despite societal changes, women still must overcome the basically the same challenges they were faced with in the 1950s, and she illustrates this beautifully in her latest work, Everything She Thought She Wanted. The narrative is in first person, and alternates between the voices of the two main characters, Sienna and Barbara. Sienna is living in modern-day England, pursuing her glamorous and successful career as a fashion consultant. Meanwhile, Barbara exists in 1959, and is having an affair with a much younger man after spending her youth caring for her husband and children. While the two stories told in this novel are quite different, they both center on the sacrifices women are asked to make for their family, and the meaning of motherhood. By the end, we are led to a meaningful connection between these two women living very different lives, and a unified theme on the complexities of love emerges.
For instance, Sienna loves her career but she also loves her husband Charlie, who has a strong desire for a family. Sienna is thirty-five years old, and is content with her neat apartment and shiny lifestyle. She also has been offered a television show and book deal in addition to her weekly column and fashion consulting business, and she doubts she could make it all work with a child to look after. But when Charlie, who is a lawyer, defends a woman accused of killing her baby, they are both forced to take a hard look at the rewards and the price of motherhood.
Meanwhile, Barbara is wife to Ryder, a pilot who served in WWII. They have two grown children, and a much beloved niece, named Sophie. Barbara has made a life out of taking care of her family, but lately it is beginning to bother her that people don’t ever ask her opinions at parties, or that her daughter and Sophie view her as having wasted herself. When Barbara meets Alexander, a young graduate student in psychology, she is immediately drawn to him, partly because he sees her as interesting and values her opinion. Soon she enters into a passionate affair with him that could destroy the life she has created for herself.
So how do the two stories relate? It would give too much of the book away to say, but there are some lovely parallels drawn throughout. For example, both characters love apples, find solace in the outdoors, and experience frustration at man-centric social occasions. But that’s just skimming the surface. Everything She Thought She Wanted is a novel with many layers. While at times the pace is a bit slow, especially compared to a lot of today’s popular women’s fiction, it’s worth the time invested in it. It will leave you more questions than answers, which is perhaps what a really good novel is supposed to do.
Elizabeth Buchnan seems to think that despite societal changes, women still must overcome the basically the same challenges they were faced with in the 1950s, and she illustrates this beautifully in her latest work, Everything She Thought She Wanted. The narrative is in first person, and alternates between the voices of the two main characters, Sienna and Barbara. Sienna is living in modern-day England, pursuing her glamorous and successful career as a fashion consultant. Meanwhile, Barbara exists in 1959, and is having an affair with a much younger man after spending her youth caring for her husband and children. While the two stories told in this novel are quite different, they both center on the sacrifices women are asked to make for their family, and the meaning of motherhood. By the end, we are led to a meaningful connection between these two women living very different lives, and a unified theme on the complexities of love emerges.
For instance, Sienna loves her career but she also loves her husband Charlie, who has a strong desire for a family. Sienna is thirty-five years old, and is content with her neat apartment and shiny lifestyle. She also has been offered a television show and book deal in addition to her weekly column and fashion consulting business, and she doubts she could make it all work with a child to look after. But when Charlie, who is a lawyer, defends a woman accused of killing her baby, they are both forced to take a hard look at the rewards and the price of motherhood.
Meanwhile, Barbara is wife to Ryder, a pilot who served in WWII. They have two grown children, and a much beloved niece, named Sophie. Barbara has made a life out of taking care of her family, but lately it is beginning to bother her that people don’t ever ask her opinions at parties, or that her daughter and Sophie view her as having wasted herself. When Barbara meets Alexander, a young graduate student in psychology, she is immediately drawn to him, partly because he sees her as interesting and values her opinion. Soon she enters into a passionate affair with him that could destroy the life she has created for herself.
So how do the two stories relate? It would give too much of the book away to say, but there are some lovely parallels drawn throughout. For example, both characters love apples, find solace in the outdoors, and experience frustration at man-centric social occasions. But that’s just skimming the surface. Everything She Thought She Wanted is a novel with many layers. While at times the pace is a bit slow, especially compared to a lot of today’s popular women’s fiction, it’s worth the time invested in it. It will leave you more questions than answers, which is perhaps what a really good novel is supposed to do.
December 26, 2017
I really struggled to finish the book as there are two parallel storylines and they don't seem to have anything in common. While the author tried very hard to explain how two women struggled with their roles in two different eras, I believed that the parallel storylines with huge amount of details made it very confusing and difficult to follow.
February 9, 2008
It's on my shelf, I recogize the story - but it left no impression. That says a lot.
July 23, 2020
I bought this book from a secondhand shop 10 years ago, because I liked the pastel yellow of the cover (talking about judging a book by its cover). Since then, the book was just sitting on my bookshelf collecting dust.
Recently, I read it for the Reading Rush readathon event, and to my surprise, I had reached the same age as the main character, Siena. It was as if my subconscious mind waited to reach 'that certain age' (pun intended). As a result, it was a much more enjoyable read than it could've been had I read it 10 years ago.
The story itself wasn't perfect, but then life wasn't. Siena and Barbara made choices that a lot of women wouldn't condone, but I was glad that I could read this without judgement. I could relate to some of Siena's thought processes, and emphatise with Barbara's feelings.
I also liked the title very much (it had an alternative title which I didn't like); it was a clever pun of 'age', covering the types of conversations and inner dialogues women of certain age had, as well as the society expectations and norms during the age the main characters lived (the 60s for Barbara, the 90s/noughties for Siena).
These weren't tidy, swoon-worthy Cinderella life stories, but I wasn't expecting that anyway. It was the perfect read for my age, in the age I lived in.
Recently, I read it for the Reading Rush readathon event, and to my surprise, I had reached the same age as the main character, Siena. It was as if my subconscious mind waited to reach 'that certain age' (pun intended). As a result, it was a much more enjoyable read than it could've been had I read it 10 years ago.
The story itself wasn't perfect, but then life wasn't. Siena and Barbara made choices that a lot of women wouldn't condone, but I was glad that I could read this without judgement. I could relate to some of Siena's thought processes, and emphatise with Barbara's feelings.
I also liked the title very much (it had an alternative title which I didn't like); it was a clever pun of 'age', covering the types of conversations and inner dialogues women of certain age had, as well as the society expectations and norms during the age the main characters lived (the 60s for Barbara, the 90s/noughties for Siena).
These weren't tidy, swoon-worthy Cinderella life stories, but I wasn't expecting that anyway. It was the perfect read for my age, in the age I lived in.
July 7, 2009
While this book was wonderfully written, it left a lot to be desired for me. It felt as though there were parts of the story that dragged on forever, and parts that sped right by without focusing on the details. Besides Barbara and Siena, none of the other characters had much depth. I love the central idea behind the book, but I felt that it could have been better developed. This book was on the verge of something great, but just didn't quite get there.
September 26, 2018
I didn't really like either of the protagonists, so found it hard to care what happened to them. Barbara seemed silly and shallow; Siena was a bit more complex - I could almost understand her inability to commit to motherhood. The stories were well told, but I don't think they really connected in any meaningful way.
September 25, 2011
I agree that the potential for this was great. Unfortunately, I think it fell short. The book narrated what the characters did and said but not what they were feeling. I did not feel any of their inner conflict.
June 17, 2018
Story of two women one in current time and the other during post WWII years - their expectations, roles and desires - one the traditional mother who yearns for more and the modern, successful business woman who is fearful of motherhood and loosing her self. A bit drier than author’s past work.
December 30, 2022
Oh, how I enjoyed this book...refreshing as an after dinner mint. It is most certainly "chick lit". Men, however, would gain some insight on the light and love in the lives of the women in their world. Sure, the characters are British, but some of their struggles and triumphs would be understood by women the world over. The setting: England, 1959 and 2000+. Yes, it's another book with 2 main characters, two time frames, chapters alternating. We are introduced to Siena of the present age and Barbara from the late 1950's. Barbara's life is complicated by her children and other folks of her children's generation. Siena's life is complicated by many of the 'shoulds' of the older generation "You're married: have children!" and by the current pressures besetting millennials: follow your career dreams, make lots of money, have glorious kids. Can you really have it all? Will you get it exactly as you dreamt it?
I love the nuances in the novel. The travel, the keeping up of appearances. Elizabeth Buchan shows us how the incidental people in our lives: friends, neighbors, kids, coworkers, spouse/spouse connections affect one's outlook and drive decisions. I especially loved how the dialog between spouses: it really reveals the joy/pain present in any relationship of duration. The balance of comfort and snarky comments between Siena and hubby Charlie was both witty/amusing and heartbreaking. Yep, the marriage relationship is layered and complex in any given generation.
I love the nuances in the novel. The travel, the keeping up of appearances. Elizabeth Buchan shows us how the incidental people in our lives: friends, neighbors, kids, coworkers, spouse/spouse connections affect one's outlook and drive decisions. I especially loved how the dialog between spouses: it really reveals the joy/pain present in any relationship of duration. The balance of comfort and snarky comments between Siena and hubby Charlie was both witty/amusing and heartbreaking. Yep, the marriage relationship is layered and complex in any given generation.
May 6, 2021
In the 1950s, Barbara thinks she has it all (a loving, not greatly demanding husband who “takes care of her”, 2 children, a lovely house and no money worries) because she didn’t realise there was anything else. In modern time, Siena doesn’t believe it’s possible to have it all. The working parents she knows don’t seem to be enjoying either aspect of their lives, but she is equally appalled by the materialistic emptyness of the single childless, a condition she may be heading for because it is her husband who is desperate for a baby. Barbara’s enlightenment is age old and not very illuminating, she still struggles to understand her budding feminist daughter. Siena is forced to choose, and I was especially struck by the fact that her husband, who was ever so gently pressuring her, no more thought to sacrifice his career to achieve his dream than Barbara’s would have. Not much progress in 50 years.
June 16, 2025
The synopsis presented two women from different timelines struggling to embrace change in their lives. As much as I in the present day fear change as well, I found the plot of the book sad, the stories not so connected and somehow the writing just felt forced? It's interesting though because it made me pause to reflect in which direction do I want my own life to go in and it's timely to me because I'm 24. It's not completely terrible but I just felt like the stories didn't have that big of an impact but the prompt for writing this did. Anyway, I'm glad I read this now and not during any other time in my life because I would have probably zero appreciation for this if I read it at an earlier time or a bit later on.
September 9, 2021
Siena is a happily married woman who has a career in the fashion world. Unfortunately, her husband wants them to have a baby as soon as possible and Siena is on the fence about making that sort of commitment. Her career is very important to her and can she fit a baby into their world. What will Siena do?
Barbara is married to Ryder an airline pilot, who had been a pilot during the war when they met. The couple has two older children, who have left home. Barbara becomes interested in a much younger man and has fallen in love for the second time in her life. But it is 1959, an affair is not acceptable. What will Barbara do?
Barbara is married to Ryder an airline pilot, who had been a pilot during the war when they met. The couple has two older children, who have left home. Barbara becomes interested in a much younger man and has fallen in love for the second time in her life. But it is 1959, an affair is not acceptable. What will Barbara do?
June 24, 2025
3.5 stars. Was slow to start. It took awhile to warm up to Siena but I got there. Barbara was instantly likeable. How difficult it would have been to be married to a war veteran with PTSD and stuck looking after children when you had such an amazing brain but couldn't use it to work! Barbara was such a gem - and 42 is so young yet she saw herself as old. I adored her and her incredible wit.
Siena did grow on me and I enjoyed reading her progress and getting to know her.
Overall not a bad read despite taking a bit to get into it.
Siena did grow on me and I enjoyed reading her progress and getting to know her.
Overall not a bad read despite taking a bit to get into it.
December 19, 2017
This book was enjoyable for many reasons, but the ending felt incomplete - as if a few chapters of Barbara's life had been omitted for expediency's sake. The enigmatic connection between the two sub-plots became clear right at the end, but the size of the gap between the last chapter on Barbara's life and the final chapter was weird, and unsatisfying. Other than that, it was a good read.
May 7, 2020
2.5 stars
I am a Buchan fan and I love some of her other work. But this was not a favorite, and I definitely missed the dry humor of her previous novels. I don't believe that characters -- especially female characters -- have to be perfect or even likable. But Siena is a hard pill to swallow. I just couldn't get engaged. And I didn't feel like the Barbara storyline was relevant.
I am a Buchan fan and I love some of her other work. But this was not a favorite, and I definitely missed the dry humor of her previous novels. I don't believe that characters -- especially female characters -- have to be perfect or even likable. But Siena is a hard pill to swallow. I just couldn't get engaged. And I didn't feel like the Barbara storyline was relevant.
May 7, 2020
2.5 stars
I am a Buchan fan and I love some of her other work. But this was not a favorite, and I definitely missed the dry humor of her previous novels. I don't believe that characters -- especially female characters -- have to be perfect or even likable. But Siena is a hard pill to swallow. I just couldn't get engaged. And I didn't feel like the Barbara storyline was relevant.
I am a Buchan fan and I love some of her other work. But this was not a favorite, and I definitely missed the dry humor of her previous novels. I don't believe that characters -- especially female characters -- have to be perfect or even likable. But Siena is a hard pill to swallow. I just couldn't get engaged. And I didn't feel like the Barbara storyline was relevant.
September 8, 2021
At the moment (p176) I give it 2 stars. I feel as though I have read before although I cannot recall the outcome. I do not feel enough sympathy or empathy with the problems of middle-class, high-earning Barbara and Siena.
08 September.
Just finished and still feel a bit dissatisfied. Funnily enough though I have just picked up off the top of my Op Shop pile of books, another of Elizabeth Buchan's novels. I hope "Against Her Nature" is better.
08 September.
Just finished and still feel a bit dissatisfied. Funnily enough though I have just picked up off the top of my Op Shop pile of books, another of Elizabeth Buchan's novels. I hope "Against Her Nature" is better.
September 18, 2018
I read this as That Certain Age. I'd have given it 3.5 stars and was pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the writing. I think it's relevant even 14 years after publication and raises interesting points and questions about equality.
October 18, 2020
I enjoyed the stories of Barbara and Siena but am not sure how they really fit together. I also felt that the ending was a little unpolished and sudden, there was no resolution and I felt I was left hanging a little.
March 5, 2021
I liked the two stories although was disappointed in Barbara for giving in to her passion. I was excited to learn how the two stories intertwined throughout the book. At the end though, I don't think the connection was enough.
October 28, 2024
2 women living in different times. One struggles with having an affair with a much younger man, another living in more modern time, struggles with the decision whether to have a baby. Other that comparing different mentality in different times this book did not teach anything.
April 28, 2019
A bit confusing on the beginning as it splits into 2 stories. As the plot continues it becomes much more interesting.
May 12, 2019
Not my cup of tea!
April 15, 2020
If I could I Would rate it a 2.5, it wasn’t bad I just didn’t really connect with any of the characters..
June 11, 2020
A fascinating little book with very many well written turns of phrase. Pleasurable to read as a result.
July 10, 2020
Didn’t really enjoy this book, didn’t understand the connection between both ladies & their story. Didn’t feel there was any closure to either lady & was very disappointed if truth be told.
November 2, 2020
Characters were a bit irritating. And completely unconnected really
August 13, 2021
This left me pretty cold. Two completely separate stories (until the final page) that didn’t really involve me at all.
August 13, 2021
This is the first book I've read by this writer and although I enjoyed the two different
relationships I felt that both endings were a let down. I expected a more defined outcome
but was disappointed
relationships I felt that both endings were a let down. I expected a more defined outcome
but was disappointed
Displaying 1 - 30 of 124 reviews