Books about women in their 50s/60s

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Can anyone recommend books about women in their 50s or 60s? Nothing too heavy, relatively easy to get into. Thank you.

Mapp and Lucia series by EF Benson. Might not be what you are looking for though! It’s Edwardian and very funny about village life.

Simon Brett's Fethering mysteries. Two neighbours in their 50s solve mysteries on the south coast of England. He writes women well, I think.

The Anthony Horowitz Susan Ryeland books - Magpie Murders etc. really enjoyed these on audio narrated by Lesley Manville.

Thank you. I prefer contemporary books usually, but I'll have a look at them.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout.

Olive is actually an older woman, probably in her 70s, and the book is about her looking back across her entire adult life. Each chapter or story is a moment in time - about love, loneliness, regret, moving on.

It’s actually one of the best books I’ve ever read, full of great characters and so well observed - very wise and moving, but also very funny in places…

Thank you. That sounds perfect from reading the synopsis online.

The Weekend by Charlotte Wood is pretty good

"Tom Lake" by Ann Pratchett is superb.

Elizabeth Strout is amazing! Have a look at her Lucy Barton books. There’s a series and she’s mostly in her 50’s and 60’s during them although it also looks at her childhood a bit.

Echo "The weekend" by Charlotte Wood. A quietly profound book about women and their choices.

Killers of a certain age by Deanna Raybourn. Not heavy. It's not deep or profound but I enjoyed it. I thought it was good fun.

If you like cosy detective fiction then The Dinner Lady Detectives series by Hannah Hendy might suit you.

Don't forget the granny of them all though...Miss Marple.

Another vote for the brilliant Mapp and Lucia!

I was going to suggest Miss Marple as well, or the Thursday murder club! Although think those characters older than 50-60.

Fair Play by Tove Jansson is a very gentle novel about the companionship, support and love between two older women, one a writer the other an artist. I don't know if it was meant to be autobiographical but I suspect it was based a lot on TJ's relationship with her partner Tuulikki Pietilä.

Another cosy mystery series. Really good series.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Patricia-Fisher-Mysteries-All-Books-ebook/dp/B086SD474K

The Marlow Murder Club series by Robert Thorogood - the women in that range from 40s - 70s.

Marian Keyes’ latest, My Favourite Mistake, is about a woman in her 50s.

More or less anything by Carol Shields would fit the bill. Happenstance is two separate stories told from the wife and husbands point of view. The woman in it is in her forties but it was published in 1980 so I feel 40 then is equivalent to 50 now. Her last book Unless is a masterpiece IMO.

In all her books she writes so well and so appealingly about people (usually women) finding their skills in employment or art. Great for midlife - and any time in fact.

Just as an aside, Jeremy Paxman is obviously a fan. He once chided some students on University Challenge for not knowing a Carol Shields question. Something like: have you never read any novels by Carol Shields? You should. They're wonderful.

I hesitate to recommend anything on here because most of what I like would probably be considered trash by MN literary types but I thought that Lucky Day by Beth Morrey was a fun read.

The main character might not be quite 50, she's a typical 40 something perimenopausal mother of teens juggling a full time job and a useless DH who has a bit of a 'fuck it' day.

Almost certainly won't meet the brief but anything by P. G. Wodehouse featuring one of his formidable aunt characters.

These sound great. I have a biography of Jane Austen by Carol Shields but the novels sound good too. I like the UV anecdote!

UC not UV

Agree. I love the Aunt characters in Jeeves and Wooster.

I should probably have said in the title but I'm looking for more contemporary novels.

99p on kindle at the moment too.

@deplorabelle Many years ago I lived in London in a shared house. My landlady's Canadian cousin from Winnipeg was visiting, she was in her sixties then. We were talking about books and I said "Do you know Carol Shields?" meaning had she read any of her novels. I was quite surprised when landlady's cousin replied "Oh yes, I serve on the library committee with her". Still wish I'd asked more questions....