Novels where protagonist is happily childfree by choice and remains so at the end of the book.

[musixa]

I'm looking for novels, as above, following a recent disappointment ('childfree by choice' protagonist had a baby at the end of the book!). Not necessarily recommendations, just books that exist! When I say 'happily childfree by choice' I mean:

• Not a societal outlier, murderer etc
• Not simply waiting for the right father to come along
• Not changing her mind by the end of the book
• Not undecided - having definitely committed to a childfree life or being past the end of childbearing years with no regrets
• Must be main protagonist (childfree sisters, best friends etc. in an 'auntie' type role to protagonist's DC are common in fiction).

Any novel suggestions, whether contemporary or historical, aimed at any age group, would be really welcome.

Do you want books about women wanting to be child free? Or about other things where they just happen to be child free?

If the latter, all of Val McDermid's books feature female protagonists, often in their 40s, and who seem never to even think about children because they are fulfilled professionally and personally by other things.

There’s a character in Daisy Jones and The Six who is and remains so to the detriment of her relationship, but she’s not the protagonist. She’s not a side character, best friend or auntie type role, she’s a member of the fictional band, so it might be worth a look. There is a heavy focus on the other characters having babies, though, which probably cancels it out. Great book though.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is coming up a lot on another thread and was raved about in the book groups I’m in (it’s on my TBR pile). The Poppy War by R F Kuang is also coming up a lot - it’s fantasy and Kuang is a superb writer, so that one has just been added to my TBR!

Barbara Pym’s heroines can fit this brief. 1950’s gentle but subtle humour and social commentary. I’ve just finished A Glass of Blessings, which I really enjoyed.

miss smilla's feeling for snow - not that it's a happy story but it has a female protagonist where having kids is not in her mind at all, if I'm remembering it right

I second any of Barbara Pym's books; all are comfort reads (although A Quartet in Autumn is a bit melancholy) none feature women with children, it's not a factor in her books. I also recommend the biography on her, really interesting. Can't remember the name of it, just search Barbara Pym biography.

Great idea for a thread! Rumer Godden's novels about nuns, In This House of Brede and Two for Joy, pretty much fit the bill (one main character has lost a child tragically, but there are several other main characters who have made the decision to commit themselves to celibate life without regrets).

Rose Macaulay's The Towers of Trebizond, featuring a woman narrator whose age is not mentioned but maybe 30s, is another of my favourites.

Oh I forgot the best ever - Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner, where the middle-aged protagonist fucks off to the countryside and becomes a witch

Oooh, thank you very much for these recommendations - they sound very promising.

@INamechangedForThisMadness either! I have been meaning to try Val McDermid's books for a while.

I don't mind melancholy books - by 'happily' I meant she isn't regretting the decision to be childfree.

Written some time back but but The Nun's Story, by Kathryn Hulme is along the same lines. More about her struggle with the obedience required by a celibate life along with having a medical and teaching career - quite radical for 1956.

Up to date - The Lido, by Libby Page, about female friendship. One character has had a couple of miscarriages years before (she's 86), but it's more about fleshing her out as a character than a theme.

Not a book but have you seen the 2021 Norwegian film called The Worst Person in the World?

There's a back story to why the Hulme book remains out of print, so you'll need to go searching for it.

I wonder this too. Every book I read about a single woman ends up with a man. So depressing.

Would the Phryne Fisher series count? Very light cosy detective fiction, set in Melbourne in 1928. The protagonist has a string of lovers and uses apparently 100% effective diaphragms. She's quite clear about not having a maternal bone in her body. She does adopt two teenage girls in the third book, rescuing them from domestic slavery and in one case from being sold into prostitution.

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk has a child free narrator. It's a murder mystery.

And I third Barbara Pym. Very underrated.

Anita Brookner is famous for her novels about unmarried, childless women. She's also a superlative stylist. Unfortunately, she's no barrel of laughs.

I've always thought David's aunt in David Copperfield is pretty magnificent. She leaves her abusive husband, and lives a happy, childfree life. She's also strong and brave. The moment where she throws Mr Murdstone out of her house is one of the great scenes in literature.

Possibly could fit the bill. The main characters get married but don’t have children during the story. There are also a couple of great examples of child free couples in the book.

Jane Austen - persuasion. Admiral and Mrs Croft have no children and are shown as a strong, happy couple who travel the world together. Lady Russel is a child free widow who enjoys her freedoms. Mary Musgrove is anything but an advert for motherhood.

Infact Jane Austen often has childless characters who seem very happy with their situation. Mr and Mrs Allen in Northanger Abbey, Mr and Mrs Gardiner in Pride and Prejudice.

The Sue Grafton alphabet series of crime novels. Heroine is definitely and militantly child free.

This series of detective novels by Daphne Uviller have a subplot about the protagonist being childless by choice (and the friction it causes when she gets into a relationship)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Super-City-Zephyr-Books-Book-ebook/dp/B001NLL5AE/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=3ETZXN8V4GJSZ&keywords=daphne+uviller&qid=1688143972&sprefix=daphne+uviller%2Caps%2C111&sr=8-1

Oh yes Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone is a great shout @MrsDanversGlidesAgain I defy anyone to read those and not want to be a single, private detective in California in the 1980s!

The Gardiners have four kids.

I saw this in Waterstones after reading this rather succinct, yet accurate review :) - I loved it!

I have many crime reccos:
Miss Marple
Vera Stanhope in Ann Cleeves' novels
Frieda Klein in the Nicci French series
Kay Scarpetta
There must be more....

I’ve just been re-reading the Fairacre books by ‘Miss Read’, starting with Village School.

They’re based on the author’s life as a village schoolteacher, from the 1950s onwards, and the main character is happily and actively single and childfree.