The F-word discussion

Hi All, my wife was bemoaning the lack of novels centring middle aged women, i.e. dealing with life after the kids leave home, the menopause , when one's parents are old, etc. etc.

Any suggestions?

Hi, Tim. I think Doris Lessing is a good author for your wife to check out, if she hasn't already. She might be interested in the Children of Violence series. It's five books that follows the life of a character, Martha Quest, from around the time she's a teenager until her death as an older woman.

I would also recommend Marilyn French's The Women's Room which follows a young woman, Mira, from the 1950s to the 1970s, so there's a lot of ground covered there as well.

And then this recommendation is based entirely on my perception, but I have no personal experience with reading anything by her myself... so I could be completely wrong. But something tells me that maybe some of the books by Margaret Drabble might fit the bill as well. She's on my to-read list, so if I do get around to her soon, I will come back to report here. Similarly, perhaps Muriel Spark?

Maybe others in the group who have read Drabble and/or Spark can speak more to that than I can.

That being said, now that I'm thinking of this, I can't say I disagree with your wife's complaint... I'm just very surprised. Certainly I've read more. This will be an ongoing thread, I'm sure.

Thanks El. I was wondering about Margaret Drabble. I read her recent The Dark Flood Rises which took an older woman, facing mortality as her friends start to die off, and making amends with her children. I thought it was a really insightful book. I'll look into your other suggestions too.

I just read Jill Ciment's "The Body in Question." And although it may not be exactly what your wife is looking for, the protagonist is a smart, cool, attractive middle aged woman.

Tim, I am new to the group, so I hope it is okay to link to another website. I haven't read many books on this list but there may some that fit your wife's criteria.

https://bookriot.com/2019/07/30/novel...

Great list, Laurie! I have several of those on my TBR list.

I was also thinking of The Wife by Meg Wolitzer, which I just read and thought it was really good.

How about some of the Witches books in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series? ;)