Are there no books with female protagonists 40 and over???

[Frikonastick]

It’s doing my head in! Please recommend me a book that centres around a woman 40 or over. Please. I beg of you.

Fantasy: Diana Wynne Jones,A Sudden Wild Magic, has a rather splendid elderly witch who is essential to the plot and Impossible to keep under control. It also has an invasion of another planet which can only be carried out by women. They get there in a converted coach. It all makes sense at the time...

Fantasy: Patricia Wrede,The Seven Towershas a sorceress called Amberglas who may possibly be the funniest Wise Woman in fiction. (The first chapter is slow until she turns up and the book takes off in several directions.)

Bookmarking these!

Thank you!

Fay Weldon writes older women characters.

I like the Freda Klein novels by Nicci French...thrillers.....involving a female therapist . Interesting, well written and not as pretentious as they sound.

Also Muriel Soark, Anita Brookner, Elizabeth Buchan

Barbara Pym

Tales of the City - Anna Madrigal may not be the protagonist, but she is a very strong, key character.

@Sinful8

Do people really pick their books because the main character shares some physical characteristics with them?

No, but once you’ve noticed the lack of them it’s something you keep on noticing. Like growing up in a country where you are not part of the ethnic majority and one day realising that none of the protagonists of your favourite books look like you. It doesn’t make them better or worse, and you still love those books, you just notice.

It’s like when i read that Hollywood only recognised three ages for women - babe, district attorney, and Driving Miss Daisy. Once you’ve heard it, you start to notice it in most things you watch

South Riding

Saving Missy by Beth Morrey. A feel good novel . The main character is 79.

Three things about Elsie - the main character is in her eighties!

Me too @MarieIVanArkleStinks, would love that list 🙂

@Respectabitch

Tehanu by Ursula Le Guin. It's part of of the Earthsea quartet but centred around the experiences and consciousness of an older woman.

absolutely love that book

Not read the whole thread

Sci fi

The Asimov robot scientist (I robot) is a woman in her late middle age.

They turned her into will Smith for the film

The fact she isn't attractive is a thing.. the short story robot dreams is interesting although I haven't read it for ages.

Her intellect is absolutely not in doubt. She finds the men tend to ignore her as well.

The Outlander series. Main protagonist is in her 30s in book 1, then her 50s onwards for the rest of the series.

Fay Weldon?

Also liked Stone Mattress, a collection of short stories about being older by Margaret Atwood.

She's not quite 40 in it, but references moving towards it a LOT. Stephanie plum series by Janet evocovinch. First one is a bit slow I found, but they get more hilarious the more you read them. Never got past 11 (dunno why) so she may hit the big 40 in them 😁

I'm sure she started at 36 and was 38-39 by the time I stopped. So close enough 😜

Jenny Eclair books are fab: Life, death and vanilla slices and Moving particularly.

An absolutely brilliant one I forgot to mention is Margaret Laurence's 'The Stone Angel'. Beautiful and moving book.

I'll post the list once I've filled in a few gaps.

Moonstone by Penelope Lively published a while ago, Lydia looks back over her life. There is another thread which is about another PL book but I found this as I prefer audiobooks.

Loads! Try Penelope Lively, Margaret Atwood, Elizabeth Bowen, A N Wilson, Kate Atkinson, Anita Brookner, Michelle Roberts, Elizabeth Taylor (not the much-wed film star!).

The Outlander series.

Claire is under 40 in the first book, but over 40 for the subsequent 8 books!

Most of Douglas Kennedy's books have a female protagonist, and they are mostly over 40. They are usually professional women having a crisis of some sort, can be quite dark and psychological thriller-y. He writes women well, ignore the daft and dated covers.