Read Women discussion

This will be our discussion, tracking, recommendation and progress thread for our 2021 Authors and Main Characters Over 50 Challenge.

How many books will you read that fall into either or both of these categories?

women authors over 50 years of age (at the time of publication of the subject book), and

novels in which the main character is a woman 50 or more years of age

Set a goal or go goal-less. Transgender authors and characters identifying as women are in scope.

We'll create a widget you can use for tracking and make it available at the group landing page closer to the start of the new year. This thread is for sharing goals and favorite lists, for planning, inquiring, listing books read, posting links to your reviews of books you read for this goal and otherwise discussing qualifying books. You can track your progress by updating a comment in this thread or, if you want to set up a separate thread in this Challenge folder to track and comment on your challenge reads, rather than do so in this thread, go ahead.

What books do you recommend or are you contemplating reading for this challenge?

As a woman over 50 myself, I look forward to reading some books with main characters over 50. Some on my list work for both prompts.

Some of my possibilities for older characters:
The Stone Diaries (both prompts)
Olive Kitteridge (both prompts)
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk
Moon Tiger (both prompts)
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (both prompts)
The Stone Angel

Two lists I've used are below but they do not have exclusively female authors.
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...

https://bookriot.com/novels-about-old...

Love this category and Laurie's list too.

More to add to the list of potentials:
Lolly Willowes
Baba Dunja's Last Love
Baba Yaga Laid an Egg
The Occult Persuasion and the Anarchist's Solution
The Weekend
Season of Fury and Wonder
The Dark Flood Rises
Miss Webster And Chérif
Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun
The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett
The Hearing Trumpet
Woman at 1,000 Degrees
The Woman Next Door

Thanks for these Laurie and Story, great lists, love 'Lolly Willowes' and 'The Hearing Trumpet' and thought 'Moon Tiger', 'Olive Kitteridge' and 'Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont' were memorable novels. But a lot that I'd like to explore and/or haven't come across at all.

I'd add:
Elizabeth Is Missing,
The Winds of Heaven
Memento Mori
All Passion Spent
Sister Gin have this to read still
Excellent Women ? not sure about the exact age of Pym's heroine, but it's a marvellous book.

but will look through my lists for other suggestions.

Also found these:

http://www.bookword.co.uk/category/ol...

https://electricliterature.com/7-book...

A number of these qualify

https://www.theguardian.com/books/boo...

https://anyshinything.com/midlife-fic...

https://modernmrsdarcy.com/books-seas...

Ah these all sound amazing, thank you Laurie, Story and Alwynne for the lists and links - and Carol for setting the challenge up!

I really loved Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun and The Stone Angel. I haven't read Excellent Women but Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym fits within the category. Tove Jansson's The Summer Book was the perfect 2020 soothing book. Wit just about makes the cut as the main character is 50. It hit very close to home in my case, but I know not everyone enjoys reading scripts.

In terms of authors, I was blown away by Christa Wolf this year (discovered thanks to Tamara), and always love reading Maryse Condé, including Victoire: My Mother's Mother. No Surrender was published when Constance Elizabeth Maud was 54, and is probably my favourite book about the suffragette movement so far.

I now need to start plotting my lists!

Cam wrote: "Ah these all sound amazing, thank you Laurie, Story and Alwynne for the lists and links - and Carol for setting the challenge up!

I really loved [book:Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun|279..."

Think we have some reading tastes in common. I haven't read 'Wit' but I've seen the dramatisation with Emma Thompson, amazing play, very powerful. Didn't think to add it. Also love Tove Jansson and Christa Wolf. And the others are ones I'd like to read.

The reference to 'Wit' jogged my memory, another one I'd recommend is The Spare Room by Helen Garner.

What a great challenge topic! Thanks, everyone.

Alwynne wrote: "The reference to 'Wit' jogged my memory, another one I'd recommend is The Spare Room by Helen Garner."

I've added it to my TBR, thank you. I really appreciate your suggestions!

I'll add my recommendations to The Stone Angel, Excellent Women and Moon Tiger as books I'm still thinking about 1 - 3 years after reading. just fabulous.

i'll be revising this thread to augment my TBR and potential reading plans for next year. I'm so glad we did this.

I, too, love this topic. I really love reading about feisty, old women.

I went through the pile of book reviews I've done since I joined Goodreads a few years ago (over 350 of them!) and picked out ones I think might be of interest. I checked and with the exception of two of them, the authors are all over 50. The list is a mix of novels, essays, and short stories. I don't think these are on anyone's list yet. The only thing I didn't figure out is if the authors were over 50 when they wrote them. But I don't suppose that matters. Or does it?

The Green Road by Anne Enright.

Regarding the Pain of Others by Susan Sontag.

Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard by Kiran Desai. (I cheated. She'll be 50 in September.)

Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit.

People of the Whale by Linda Hogan.

Distant View of a Minaret and Other Stories by Alifa Rifaat.

The Life of Poetry by Muriel Rukeyser.

Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar.

No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters by Ursula K. Le Guin.

The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau.

July's People by Nadine Gordimer.

Delta Wedding by Eudora Welty.

Hotel Silence by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir.

The Collector of Treasures and Other Botswana Village Tales by Bessie Head.

Cockroaches by Scholastique Mukasonga.

Nineveh by Henrietta Rose-Innes. (I cheated, again! She will be 50 in September.)

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk. (The older woman in Baba Dunja's Last Love and in Drive Your Plow are two of my absolute favorites.

Now I'm off to compile my new reading list :)

Sorry! I just re-read Carol's prompt at the beginning of the message. A couple of the ones on my list may not work since the authors were under 50 when they wrote their books. I should have paid more attention to the prompt.
My apologies.

Tamara wrote: "Sorry! I just re-read Carol's prompt at the beginning of the message. A couple of the ones on my list may not work since the authors were under 50 when they wrote their books. I should have paid mo..."

We'll (individual members) own figuring it out, Tamara. Thanks very much for sharing this list!

Tamara wrote: "Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk. (The older woman in Baba Dunja's Last Love and in Drive Your Plow are two of my absolute favorites.

Me too, along with Lolly Willowes.

One more to add Meet Me at the Museum. I see the author Anne Youngson has a new book featuring older women as well:Three Women and a Boat

Thanks, Story.
I've bumped up Lolly Willowes and Meet me at the Museum to the top of my list.
I read the blurb about Three Women and a Boat. It sounds like it's a take-off on the famous (and hilarious) classic by Jerome K. Jerome Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog): New Illustrated Edition with 67 Original Drawings by A. Frederics, a Detailed Map of Tour, and a Photo of the Three Men

Tamara wrote: "Thanks, Story.
I've bumped up Lolly Willowes and Meet me at the Museum to the top of my list.
I read the blurb about Three Women and a Boat. It sounds like it's a take-off on the famous (and hilar..."

I was thinking that too, except that in Three Men they were mere pups whereas these are ladies "of a certain age" :)


One thing I notice about our lists is that there seem to be lots of books about women 70+ and far fewer with protagonists in their 50s and 60s.

This article is first and foremost a spot-on great read on point. It uses 40 as the cut-off, e.g., " 20 Debut Works of Fiction by Women over 40," and is focused on women who went on to achieve literary success/recognition as opposed to one-hit wonders. I loved these stories in any event and thought members participating in this challenge would enjoy it.

Mentioned novels that qualify for this challenge are:

Penelope Fitzgerald's The Golden Child

Mary Wesley's Jumping the Queue

Stones for Ibarra by Harriet Doerr

Annie Proulx's short-story collection, Heart Songs

Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees

Kit de Waal's My Name Is Leon

https://lithub.com/20-debut-works-of-...

Long, long ago, in a galaxy far away (I was 22), I read ...And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer, her second novel, first published when she was 87 years old. It remains one of the 10 best books I've ever read.

Clearly, I need to get back to work but .... I so loved this archived (1988) NYTimes article/excerpt and thought you might, too.

"Women Writers: Coming of Age" https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/04/bo...

This para resonated particularly. "...it occurs to me now that as we age, many of us who are privileged - not only academics in tenured positions, of course, but more broadly those with some assured place and pattern in their lives, with some financial security - are in danger of choosing to stay right where we are, to undertake each day's routine, and to listen to our arteries hardening. I do not believe that death should be allowed to find us seated comfortably in our tenured positions. Virginia Woolf described this condition in ''Mrs. Dalloway'': ''Time flaps on the mast. There we stop; there we stand. Rigid, the skeleton of habit alone upholds the human frame. Where there is nothing.'' Instead, we should make use of our security, our seniority, to take risks, to make noise, to be courageous, to become unpopular...."

Alwynne wrote: "The reference to 'Wit' jogged my memory, another one I'd recommend is The Spare Room by Helen Garner."

I'll second your recommendation. It is a very moving work.

carol's planning and recording list

Finished

MC > or = 50
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson. Finished May 28. A 5-star, wonderful novel.

Author > or = 50
Checkmate to Murder by E.C.R. Lorac. Finished Feb 9.
Just Us: An American Conversation by Claudia Rankine. Finished April 21. 5*
Masks by Fumiko Enchi. Finished May 10. 5*

Maybes

New York Mosaic: Do I Wake or Sleep, The Christmas Tree, Many Mansions by Isabel Bolton

The Last Quarter of the Moon by Zijian Chi -- unnamed, 90-year old narrator - books I own - recommended by Alice Poon

Lust, Caution: The Story by Eileen Chang. Written in the 1950s, not published until after she died.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. Retired schoolteacher is the MC.

Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor

Memento Mori by Muriel Spark

All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West. First published 1931. (I own a copy)

The Woman Next Door by Yewande Omotoso. South Africa.

Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun by Sarah Ladipo Manyika. Young author. MC is older. San Francisco locale.

Purge by Sofi Oksanen. Takes place in rural Estonia. Translated from Finnish. Psychological thriller. Sex-trafficking. Elderly woman is a WWII survivor of occupation of Estonia.

Tamara wrote: "I, too, love this topic. I really love reading about feisty, old women.

I went through the pile of book reviews I've done since I joined Goodreads a few years ago (over 350 of them!) and picked ou..."

Thank you for including some books in translation. Two of them were already on my tbr for next year.

I found this list, not that keen on the title but might have some possibilities:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6...

Alwynne wrote: "I found this list, not that keen on the title but might have some possibilities:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6..."

well that's an unpleasant title - isn't it? lol

it's a much better list than I've found in the wild, where the same 15 books seem to come up over and over.

Thanks for sharing it!

Very annoying title! The woman in Major Pettigrew is somewhere around 52?!

Some interesting sounding books on the list though :) I loved Duet for Three but doubt it would be that easy to find outside of Canada. Joan Barfoot is an interesting and to my mind, underrated author.

I like the sound of Joan Barfoot, particularly if you think her work's worth reading. I think there may be second-hand copies,don't remember seeing anything by her in bookshops though.

This one's due out soon in the UK, the main character is in her 70s,
The Snow-Woman by Stella Gibbons, who I think would have also been over 50.

Thanks Alwynne.

I just finished The Love Story of Missy Carmichael. It's uplit and the protagonist is 80. I liked (but didn't love) it.

I'm going to join this challenge with a goal of 5. Top of my list are:
The Hearing Trumpet
Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun
Miss Iceland
A Mercy
People of the Whale

Favourites I've read previously which would fit the bill:
Baba Dunja's Last Love
Oryx and Crake
Beloved

A couple more I found on my library site listed under "Feisty Older Women." (Do all older women have to be feisty? What's the alternative, do you think?)

Breaking Out of Bedlam
Follow Your Heart (in translation)
Love, Again
The Wife Tree
Somewhere Towards the End
How It All Began
The Dark Flood Rises

Thanks Story, yes 'feisty' annoys me too.

A very short and enjoyably creepy story from the Fairy Tale Review by Her Body and Other Parties

The Old Women Who Were Skinned
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.13110...

Thanks Story and Happy New Year when it arrives! : )

Happy New Year to you too, Alwynne! May 2021 bring us all better times.

I hope so but for now I'm making do with the final episodes of Sabrina and a large amount of chocolate!

Alwynne wrote: "I hope so but for now I'm making do with the final episodes of Sabrina and a large amount of chocolate!"

Fine choices. I’m going with three wet long-haired dogs, red wine, candles and a new-to-me series on prime.

Carol wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "I hope so but for now I'm making do with the final episodes of Sabrina and a large amount of chocolate!"

Fine choices. I’m going with three wet long-haired dogs, red wine, candles ..."

You're both much more romantic than me. I'm sorting laundry with the intention of being first in our shared laundry room tomorrow morning while others are sleeping off their red wine and chocolate hangovers ;)

This looks great. I am also over 50 and look for women characters to show me how this over 50 thing is done!

Story wrote: "Carol wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "I hope so but for now I'm making do with the final episodes of Sabrina and a large amount of chocolate!"

Fine choices. I’m going with three wet long-haired dogs, red ..."

I didn't see your message Story, shared laundry rooms always make me think of films and TV shows, the one in 'Manhunter' with the phantom cat, and famously the one in 'Rosemary's Baby'.

Alwynne wrote: "Story wrote: "Carol wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "I hope so but for now I'm making do with the final episodes of Sabrina and a large amount of chocolate!"

Fine choices. I’m going with three wet long-hai..."

Yes. manhunter. Shared laundry rooms seem more risky for women than sketchy bars, based on my movie and tv watching. 🤣😉

Absolutely Carol, hope the dogs are doing well and not so damp!

Alwynne wrote: "Absolutely Carol, hope the dogs are doing well and not so damp!"

They don’t mind muddy paws and wet fur a bit. And the one with hip dysplasia is unimpressed with the new steps and ramp we had built for her into our garage and from garage down to the back yard. But they’re a special pair nonetheless.

Story wrote: "A very short and enjoyably creepy story from the Fairy Tale Review by Her Body and Other Parties

The Old Women Who Were Skinned
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.13110......"

Thank you for recommending this Story. I read it today and loved it. I've put the collection onto my TBR list and am even hoping that I might manage to add it to my Feminist reads challenge before the quarter finishes.

So glad you enjoyed it, Liesl :) I didn't love every story in "Her Body and Other Parties" but some of them were fantastic, in both senses of the word.

Story wrote: "So glad you enjoyed it, Liesl :) I didn't love every story in "Her Body and Other Parties" but some of them were fantastic, in both senses of the word."

Same here! I found it a bit of a patchy collection but the stories that stuck with me haunted me for ages.

Those planning to read The Hearing Trumpet (or who have already had the pleasure) might enjoy this essay by Olga Tokarczuk on Eccentricity as Feminism as depicted by Carrington.

https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2...

Thanks Story, love their blog but didn't see this yet, keep meaning to re-read the Carrington, it's a lovely book, and definitely eccentric. Although eccentricity is a dying art.

Story wrote: "Those planning to read The Hearing Trumpet (or who have already had the pleasure) might enjoy this essay by Olga Tokarczuk on Eccentricity as Feminism as depicted by Carrington.

http..."

What a delightful article! I also loved this story. I particularly enjoyed the surrealism of the story but I have to admit that I always enjoy a story but an older woman who is happy to do what she wants without worrying about conforming to societal norms about women.

If anyone is looking for a film equivalent, I highly recommend "Hello, My name is Doris". My daughter is slightly concerned that I am going to start dressing like Sally Field in this film but I just loved her eccentricity, and her complete oblivion to what other people thought about what she was doing.

Has there been a widget created for this challenge? I can't find it. I just saw this challenge in Anita's newsletter and have inadvertently already read 7 books this year that qualify:

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
Just Us: An American Conversation by Claudia Rankine
Grass by Sheri S. Tepper
The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs by Patricia B. McConnell
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert
No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters by Ursula K. Le Guin

Women who write books over the age of 50 are definitely present in this era. At least in terms of writing books that interest me...

Monica wrote: "Has there been a widget created for this challenge? I can't find it. I just saw this challenge in Anita's newsletter and have inadvertently already read 7 books this year that qualify:

[book:Caste..."

Thankyou for the book recommendations! :)