I’d like to read a novel written by a woman who was 40 or older when she wrote it. Bonus if the main character also fits that description. No chick lit, please (although there’s nothing wrong with that, if that’s your jam!). Thank you.
by MTBeanerschnitzel
26 Comments
*Olive Kitteridge* and its sequel *Olive, Again* by Elizabeth Strout
The Broken Earth trilogy by NK Jemisin fits both of these requirements I believe. All 3 books won the Hugo award, and are highly regarded. I loved them myself and plan on re-reading them in time.
*Demon Copperhead*, by Kingsolver fits your first and there are strong female characters.
I agree with *Olive Kitteridge*
Anne Tyler
The Madness of a Seduced Woman by Susan Fromberg Schaefer.
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk lived up to the hype for me.
*Binti* by Nnedi Okorafor was written when she was 40 or 41, if I’m doing the math right, but the character is an 18 or 19-year-old girl going to university.
Her graphic novel *LaGuardia* has an older female protagonist, but I’m not sure if she’s explicitly over 40 or not.
Anything by Barbara Kingsolver. Demon Copperhead does not have a female mc, but many of her other works do.
Stone blind by Natalie Haynes – the main character isn’t over 40 (if that’s really important, try Children of Jocasta), but she’s is medusa
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
The Book of Love (Kelly Link)
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See. This book is incredible and Lisa See was 54 when it came out! It got me into historical fiction as a genre
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Good House by Ann Leary
The Daughters of Erietown by Connie Schultz
Where’d You Go Bernadette? by Maria Semple
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
The Charmed Wife by Olga Grushin
The Glass Hotel and The Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
Pearl by Sian Hughes.
The Keeper of the Bees
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich (really, anything by her, but that one is recent—so, fits the age you’re looking for—and it’s my favorite!)
The Green Kingdom by Rachel Maddux
The Good Earth by Pearl S Buck
Any by Louise Penny or Elly Griffiths
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. She was 47 when she wrote it.
Tehanu by Ursula Leguin. It is the fourth book in a series but you can read that one on its own I think.
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
Gillian Flynn’s books are good if you want dark and disturbing.
Sharp Objects (2006): Published when she was 29.
Dark Places (2009): Published when she was 32.
Gone Girl (2012): Published when she was 35.
The Grownup (2014): Published when she was 38.
The Gathering, by CJ Tudor.
Anita Brookner, the misalliance or hotel du lac. Honestly, most of her books are great.
Big Swiss