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The Book of Old Ladies: Celebrating Women of a Certain Age in Fiction
This is a book that champions older women’s stories and challenges the limiting outcomes we seem to hold for them. The Book of Old Ladies introduces readers to thirty stories featuring fictional “women of a certain age” who increasingly become their truest selves. Their stories will entertain and provide insight into the stories we tell ourselves about the limits and opportunities of aging. A celebration of women who push back against the limiting stereotypes regarding older women’s possibility, The Book of Old Ladies is a book lover’s guide to approaching old age and dealing with its losses while still embracing beauty, creativity, connection, and wonder.
304 pages, Paperback
First published September 8, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 4, 2020
The Book of Old Ladies: Celebrating Women of a Certain Age in Fiction is the work of Dr. Ruth O. Saxton, and she deserves our admiration just for finishing the project. Her study was underway fifteen years ago when she suffered a traumatic brain injury from an auto accident. Recovery has been long, and as she regained her ability to read and returned to the texts she had chosen before her injury, she discovered these novels anew with a greater urgency and a “more sympathetic and more critical” eye.
Now she presents us with a thoughtful collection of her reviews, six each in five chapters, plus a bonus piece at the end. The reviews cover 31 books written within the past 100 years by accomplished women writers. Saxton is looking for satisfying representations of women confronting old age and mortality, the fictional women we badly need. “The Book of Old Ladies,” she says, “encourages readers, young and old, to think critically about the ramifications of fiction in all of our lives, inspiring dialogue and ultimately more profound and plentiful storylines . . . that will feature older women as the fascinating, dynamic, and complicated subjects they truly are.”
Each chapter has an introduction, a conclusion, and a discussion of the ways that aging women have been portrayed in these novels. Fiction, Saxton reminds us, “sets a cultural tone for what we believe to be true about ourselves.” She shares the results of her search for models that give her hope and energy for facing inevitable decline while making the most of living.
But she begins with the treacly clinging to romance that is a common fictional trope about women at the end of their lives. She discusses writers as revered as Katherine Anne Porter, May Sarton, Tillie Olsen, and Doris Lessing, all of whom create female characters who miss their own lives because of that sweet myth. With evident passion, the author rejects that simplistic representation. She sees richer and more potent possibilities for women at the end of life, and in chapters that follow shows us works that address such subjects as “Sex after Sixty” (including Toni Cade Bambara, Mary Gordon, and Alice Munro) and “Defying Expectations” (with Vita Sackville-West, Jean Davis Okimoto, and Sena Jeter Naslund). Saxton is looking for authors who recognize the significance of older women, their impacts and endless possibilities. Her review of the literature has resulted in a remarkable collection of titles and a memorable group of female characters.
Though I was disappointed at the paucity of quotes from the novels that Saxton reviews, The Book of Old Ladies proved to contain thoughtful perspectives on those novels I have read and is an inspiration to read the books that are new to me. As a woman “of a certain age,” I appreciate the author’s effort to redefine being an older woman, and her search for how best we can make the most of it. The novels she describes here make a good start on a reader’s guide to that challenge.
This book was reviewed for Story Circle Book Reviews by Susan Schoch.
Now she presents us with a thoughtful collection of her reviews, six each in five chapters, plus a bonus piece at the end. The reviews cover 31 books written within the past 100 years by accomplished women writers. Saxton is looking for satisfying representations of women confronting old age and mortality, the fictional women we badly need. “The Book of Old Ladies,” she says, “encourages readers, young and old, to think critically about the ramifications of fiction in all of our lives, inspiring dialogue and ultimately more profound and plentiful storylines . . . that will feature older women as the fascinating, dynamic, and complicated subjects they truly are.”
Each chapter has an introduction, a conclusion, and a discussion of the ways that aging women have been portrayed in these novels. Fiction, Saxton reminds us, “sets a cultural tone for what we believe to be true about ourselves.” She shares the results of her search for models that give her hope and energy for facing inevitable decline while making the most of living.
But she begins with the treacly clinging to romance that is a common fictional trope about women at the end of their lives. She discusses writers as revered as Katherine Anne Porter, May Sarton, Tillie Olsen, and Doris Lessing, all of whom create female characters who miss their own lives because of that sweet myth. With evident passion, the author rejects that simplistic representation. She sees richer and more potent possibilities for women at the end of life, and in chapters that follow shows us works that address such subjects as “Sex after Sixty” (including Toni Cade Bambara, Mary Gordon, and Alice Munro) and “Defying Expectations” (with Vita Sackville-West, Jean Davis Okimoto, and Sena Jeter Naslund). Saxton is looking for authors who recognize the significance of older women, their impacts and endless possibilities. Her review of the literature has resulted in a remarkable collection of titles and a memorable group of female characters.
Though I was disappointed at the paucity of quotes from the novels that Saxton reviews, The Book of Old Ladies proved to contain thoughtful perspectives on those novels I have read and is an inspiration to read the books that are new to me. As a woman “of a certain age,” I appreciate the author’s effort to redefine being an older woman, and her search for how best we can make the most of it. The novels she describes here make a good start on a reader’s guide to that challenge.
This book was reviewed for Story Circle Book Reviews by Susan Schoch.
June 19, 2020
I received an ARC of this book through Net Galley. Thank you so much to both Net Galley and the Author Ruth Saxton for giving me the opportunity of discovering such a wonderful book. The author discusses 31 books about aging women protagonists. Her summaries of each were wonderful. I particularly enjoyed her discussions detailing how the women were portrayed and the limitations of them we were given. I felt like this was a book club which actually opened my eyes to more of the story than was written. I had never approached books from this view. Even the books I had read that the author reviewed were 'new' to me through her eyes. I feel that life is all about learning and this book asks me to seek more from my reading. I have added most of these books to my TBR and look forward to spending more time with each of these characters. Thank you for this book which explains more fully the lives of aging women.
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February 8, 2022What does it mean to age? To be old? Particularly, what does it mean to confront old age as a woman? How have the peculiarities and challenges faced by women changed (if at all) over time?
The Book of Old Ladies: Celebrating Women of a Certain Age In Fiction by Dr. Ruth O. Saxton seeks to answer these questions and rectify the, somehow, universally held ideas about women, and more specifically older women. Namely that women are defined by their romantic relationships; that they inherently seek to be wives, mothers, and caregivers; and that their artistic or personal passions are second to their roles as women.
Saxton takes a look at thirty different novels and short stories with older women as the central characters to analyze how the writers of these works handle aging and end of life issues. In each section, Sexton provides an in-depth analysis of a story, parsing out the characters’ motives, how their lives differ (or not) from the given stereotypes about aging women, and how the stories and characters fit into the larger, collective narrative of women as we know it.
An essential piece of non-fiction, The Book of Old Ladies draws attention not only to the works highlighted, but to the overarching issue of our society’s provincial view of women in old age. Saxton brings to life characters who are so far from the narrow-minded perception of the old bag, the lonely widower, and the crazy old lady to name a few. Further, Saxton creates a sense of urgency to both read the fiction she features and to champion the older women of our generation who are living these fictions daily.
Even if you haven’t read the books and stories Saxton focuses on, each chapter and section is still captivating and, by the end, almost makes you feel as if you have read the book or story discussed. That being said, reading the analyses of the works I had read was by far the more enjoyable reading experience of the book. If anything, Saxton creates a reading list for every reader!
Eye opening, heartbreaking, and thoroughly thought-provoking, The Book of Old Ladies by Ruth O. Saxton comes highly recommended to all readers no matter their age, gender, or beliefs.
The Book of Old Ladies: Celebrating Women of a Certain Age In Fiction by Dr. Ruth O. Saxton seeks to answer these questions and rectify the, somehow, universally held ideas about women, and more specifically older women. Namely that women are defined by their romantic relationships; that they inherently seek to be wives, mothers, and caregivers; and that their artistic or personal passions are second to their roles as women.
Saxton takes a look at thirty different novels and short stories with older women as the central characters to analyze how the writers of these works handle aging and end of life issues. In each section, Sexton provides an in-depth analysis of a story, parsing out the characters’ motives, how their lives differ (or not) from the given stereotypes about aging women, and how the stories and characters fit into the larger, collective narrative of women as we know it.
An essential piece of non-fiction, The Book of Old Ladies draws attention not only to the works highlighted, but to the overarching issue of our society’s provincial view of women in old age. Saxton brings to life characters who are so far from the narrow-minded perception of the old bag, the lonely widower, and the crazy old lady to name a few. Further, Saxton creates a sense of urgency to both read the fiction she features and to champion the older women of our generation who are living these fictions daily.
Even if you haven’t read the books and stories Saxton focuses on, each chapter and section is still captivating and, by the end, almost makes you feel as if you have read the book or story discussed. That being said, reading the analyses of the works I had read was by far the more enjoyable reading experience of the book. If anything, Saxton creates a reading list for every reader!
Eye opening, heartbreaking, and thoroughly thought-provoking, The Book of Old Ladies by Ruth O. Saxton comes highly recommended to all readers no matter their age, gender, or beliefs.
June 2, 2020
I received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review. The book starts out with, "I have always read fiction to find models for how to live, how to be. I am not alone; we search for ourselves in story, often seeing our lives in fictional plots and imagining out potential future through lenses of fictional lives.
The author does know because that is exactly why I wanted to read the book. The book was a different type of writing that I was used to but I was amazed at how often I got a glimpse of me in the stories. 2020 is a different kind of year and this book is a different kind of book but I am learning so much from both. As I was reading the book, I kept thinking this is one of those books I need to save because I think it is also one of those books that you see what you need to see now but as my journey continues and I reread this book, I will see things I didn't see when I read it this time.
The author does know because that is exactly why I wanted to read the book. The book was a different type of writing that I was used to but I was amazed at how often I got a glimpse of me in the stories. 2020 is a different kind of year and this book is a different kind of book but I am learning so much from both. As I was reading the book, I kept thinking this is one of those books I need to save because I think it is also one of those books that you see what you need to see now but as my journey continues and I reread this book, I will see things I didn't see when I read it this time.
abandoned
January 6, 2023I started reading this expecting it to be a collection of stories with older ladies as the protagonists. The author did in fact collect these stories and presents and critiques them in an organized, pondered manner. But I kept expecting the excerpts from the novels to start and they don't, as they're not actually included. I suppose it would not have been easy to include coherent and clear excerpts from big novels, not to mention it might involve a lot of copyrights. As this wasn't my expectation at all for this book, I think I'll set it aside for now.
December 18, 2020
It took awhile for me to understand the set up of this book. But it all comes back to the title: "Celebrating Women of a Certain Age in Fiction". Dr. Saxton has paired up short stories and short novels to illustrate old ladies, as protagonists. She summarizes the stories and novels and then makes her points. Some old ladies merely think about their first romance; other old ladies break out of their unacceptable assisted living homes. Some have mental problems, or lose their memories. A wide variety are celebrated. I'm definitely going to read some of the novels. Recommended for women over 68 years if age.
September 8, 2020
This was a great collection of stories about women of old age. The ability to see ourselves via her writing shows how gifted of an author Ms. Saxton is. This was a great read!
July 17, 2021
I didn't realize when I selected this E book on Hoopla that it was a scholarly writing about aging women in literature. Therefore, the author (a professor) selected books about aging women, categorized them into chapters on themes; provided an overview of the themes of the books/short stories; described the content and themes of the books/short stories and then summarized them as a group. I believe reading the books myself would have been more illuminating and entertaining as this felt more like a text book on aging women in literature. I did find the author's back story interesting and energizing.
July 1, 2020
I received this #ARC from #netgalley for my honest review. Saxton reviews various books on the topic of older women, aging and how writers portray women who have reached that "certain age". Her insight in how older women are characterized in books is startling true and touches on a subject that needs notices and reimagined.
April 16, 2022
Full disclosure, Dr. Ruth is my academic mentor.
The Book of Old Ladies:Celebrating Women of a Certain Age in fiction starts out giving you a great overview of the dearth of female characters "of a certain age".
Dr. Ruth breaks down and analyses what stories are being told over and over about older women. Her analysis is spot on regarding the two choices, the marriage or the death story for women in general and the invisibility of women as a character in fiction that exists to support a male-centric story.
She expands the conversation on this well known invisibility to include three books that represent a certain genre of limited story for older women. One great barrier is the idea that only young people have sex. The good Dr. Ruth prescribes 5 books that explicate characters who have a healthier sex life after 60.
I don't want to give away the rest of the stories,, however you will be not only be entertained, but enlightened by the full bodied historical conversation with older women in fiction.
Of course I'm giving her book 5 stars. But don't let my reputation stop you from purchasing a copy. It really is an extremely well written, well organized, clear as can be survey of older women in fiction. The introduction alone will draw you into the history of women's exclusion because it is so detailed and well-developed. And the beauty is that this book retains Dr. Ruth's inimitable and unique love for women's fiction across the ages. Get. yourself a copy and one for a friend, you will be glad you did!
The Book of Old Ladies:Celebrating Women of a Certain Age in fiction starts out giving you a great overview of the dearth of female characters "of a certain age".
Dr. Ruth breaks down and analyses what stories are being told over and over about older women. Her analysis is spot on regarding the two choices, the marriage or the death story for women in general and the invisibility of women as a character in fiction that exists to support a male-centric story.
She expands the conversation on this well known invisibility to include three books that represent a certain genre of limited story for older women. One great barrier is the idea that only young people have sex. The good Dr. Ruth prescribes 5 books that explicate characters who have a healthier sex life after 60.
I don't want to give away the rest of the stories,, however you will be not only be entertained, but enlightened by the full bodied historical conversation with older women in fiction.
Of course I'm giving her book 5 stars. But don't let my reputation stop you from purchasing a copy. It really is an extremely well written, well organized, clear as can be survey of older women in fiction. The introduction alone will draw you into the history of women's exclusion because it is so detailed and well-developed. And the beauty is that this book retains Dr. Ruth's inimitable and unique love for women's fiction across the ages. Get. yourself a copy and one for a friend, you will be glad you did!
December 22, 2021
I believe it was one of the Alsop brothers who many years ago said that reading about his ancestors never interested him until he became one. I felt that way about old ladies until recently. Now that I have joined their ranks, however, I find them fascinating. As a result, this book caught, and held, my attention. Plus, it gave me loads of additional titles to add to my TBR list.
January 25, 2022
I chose this title thinking I would be reading excerpts from various novels concerning issues of different older ladies of a certain age. Having previously read one of the featured novels I decided to see if I could find something new to tweak my curiosity. Unfortunately reading this book reminded me of sitting in a boring college lecture waiting for the class to end.
Want to read
January 30, 2021Chapter 1:
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall, by K. A. Porter
Evening, by Susan Minot
Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing, by May Sarton
Tell Me a Riddle, by Tillie Olsen
Love Again, by Doris Lessing
Not That Sort of Girl, by Mary Wesley
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall, by K. A. Porter
Evening, by Susan Minot
Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing, by May Sarton
Tell Me a Riddle, by Tillie Olsen
Love Again, by Doris Lessing
Not That Sort of Girl, by Mary Wesley
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 2, 2021
I would rather read the actual books than synopses and/ or reviews. I felt like the book was just a repeat of the introduction.
July 27, 2022
Very enjoyable. And much to think about. And more books books bought as a result. 😊
January 9, 2022
This is such a fantastic book. Saxton is incredibly thoughtful and amazingly articulate.
There is almost no point in highlighting my ebook edition as almost every sentence is a treasure.
I recommend this book so highly to all crones and crones-to-be. It will light up all your synapses.
There is almost no point in highlighting my ebook edition as almost every sentence is a treasure.
I recommend this book so highly to all crones and crones-to-be. It will light up all your synapses.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews