I’m always looking for novels about older adults. I want to know how they live, how they deal with second-half challenges, what spurs them on and keeps them fired up. Here’s a partial list of what I’ve read. Click on the book image to go to the Amazon detail page. For a more complete list (over 60 titles!), go to FB Midlife Books.
My Midlife Fiction Recommendations!
Morning in this Broken World by Katrina Kittle
I’m always on the lookout for novels featuring older people (not flashbacks to their youth, but in their present lives). This book was fantastic. In it, 70yo Vivian has chosen to sell her house and move to the independent living facility where her husband is in the memory care wing. It’s the beginning of the Covid pandemic, and everybody is scared, losing loved ones right and left, jobs being upended, families traumatized, workers exhausted.
When her husband dies, Vivian stops the sale of her house and returns home. She invites one of the care workers, Luna, to come live with her.
Luna, a woman of color, has two teenagers: a troubled son on the verge of coming out, and a gifted, artistic daughter with cerebral palsy. They are struggling financially and emotionally, and are being evicted, and Vivian is grieving and lonely, so everybody is motivated to make it work. But there definitely are bumps in the road.
This is the story of the creation of a new family, a new network of friends…of learning to see past stereotypes, and finding the strength and beauty to thrive. Since my own mother was in a home right at the start of the pandemic, this book brought back some hard memories, but it was all the richer for that. A lovely book. Recommended. You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/Morning-This-Broken-World-Novel-ebook/dp/B0BJLGM5SR
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Jimmy Bluefeather by Kim Heacox
Lovely, amazing, wonderful book. Main character is 95, but there’s a middle-aged woman and a kid just out of high school featured here, too. This is the story of the last living canoe carver in the village of Jinkaat, in Southeast Alaska. It’s a rich depiction of a vanishing culture (the Tlingit natives, with their art and hunting and healing).
Other themes: Family, who offer both frustration and sanctuary. A boy’s coming of age. A middle-aged woman dealing with grief and finding her true direction in life. The conflict between commerce, politics, power, and ancient lands. Losers and outlaws redeemed; the mighty brought low. There’s humor, wit, and compelling characters.
This book is one of the best I’ve ever read. I highly recommend it. You can find it here on Amazon.
News of the World by Paulette Jiles
A 71-year-old retired army captain in 1870, Texas, must return a ten-year-old girl, captured at age four by Kiowa, to her relatives in San Antonio. But she’s become Kiowa. Now, as Captain Kidd travels with her, he begins to worry about what will happen at the end of her journey. My review is here and you can buy it here.
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
A 70 yo woman, grieving the loss of her husband and adult son, finds healing thanks to her unusual friend at the aquarium. A story of grief, widowhood, family, and finding joy again. My review is here and you can buy it here.
The Vibrant Years by Sonali Dev with intro by Mindy Kaling
The title of this book doesn’t begin to convey the sweep of personalities, the character arc, the rich cultural descriptions, and the earthshaking changes undergone by the three generations of characters. My review is here and you can buy it here.
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
Joy is 68, Stan is 70. After a lifelong marriage, Joy has disappeared. Stan looks guilty, and the adult children act as if they’re complicit. A sweeping, entertaining novel. My review is here and you can buy it here.
The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg
When I read a novel, I want to learn something about life, especially in the second half. The Year of Pleasures is about a recently widowed 55-year-old woman, and there’s so much wisdom in the story. It’s a joy to read, but also enlightening. My review is here and you can buy it here.
Two Old Women by Velma Wallis
Two old women, left to starve by their Alaskan tribe, discover strengths they never knew they had. My review is here and you can buy it here.
Old Friends Reunited by Maddie Please
Three lifelong friends meet in France to relax and reconnect, but nothing works out as expected. My review is here and you can buy it here.
The Other Son by Nick Alexander
Alice and her husband Ken are close to seventy when he punches her in the face for the last time. The Other Son is partly a story of domestic abuse, but the main theme is how we adapt over time. My review is here and you can buy it here.
The Woman I Was Before by Kerry Fisher
When three families move into a new neighborhood, their lives appear to be great, wonderful, totally okay. But then the secrets begin to unravel. A story about midlife women becoming strong and honest. My review is here and you can buy it here.
Season of Second Chances by Aimee Alexander
Grace, a physician, takes her two teenagers back to her childhood village in an effort to escape her abusive husband. A lovely story of growth and renewal in an Irish setting. My review is here, and you can see it on Amazon here.
The Bette Davis Club by Jane Lotter
Margo is in her 50s, had a sad childhood, is bumping along in her halfway life, and then a non-wedding sets into motion a series of madcap events, starting with the jilted bridegroom joining her for a trip to Palm Springs in a vintage MG, while chasing the runaway bride. My review is here and you can buy it here.
Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler
By the quirky author of The Accidental Tourist, a story about a midlife woman coming to understand who she is, after all these years, and being okay with it. My full review is here, and you can buy it here.
When I Last Saw You by Bette Lee Crosby
A widow in her sixties sets out to learn the truth about her family of origin, while the story of her childhood is told in flashback. A richly drawn saga based in the South in 1968. My 5-star review is here and you can buy it here.
The Second Season by Emily Adrian
Ruth Devon, 42, is re-evaluating her life. Five stars for a story modeled after the amazing Doris Burke, the former basketball player and now-legendary NBA sidelines reporter. I’m not even a basketball fan and I loved it. My review is here, and you can order it here.
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
Scientists in the Amazon, life and death! You get two for one: a 45-year old main character, and a 70-year-old antagonist, both women, both richly drawn. My review is here and you can buy it here.
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
A childless older couple in Alaska in the 1920s are blessed with a family, in an unusual way. Heartbreakingly beautiful story. My review is here and you can buy it here.
A Year of Extraordinary Moments by Bette Lee Crosby
A sweet story with multiple voices, led by that of an elderly woman coming to grips with the truth of her family. My review is here and you can buy it here.
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson
A wonderful story about a 60-yr-old Englishman who, widowed, dares to love again. Read my review here and you can buy it here.
The Champ by Daniel Martin Eckhart
Wilber is 115 and living in an old-age home. In his last days, he develops mental powers, like communicating without speaking and moving objects with his mind. He uses these tools to benefit the people who populate this book. A sweet, uplifting novel. My review is here and you can buy it here.
Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
Kent Haruf wrote so simply and richly about the experience of aging. Here two older souls (in their late 60s? 70s?) find each other, and defy their families. Made into a movie starring Redford and Fonda. My review is here and you can buy it here.
On the Divinity of Second Chances by Kaya McLaren
A wonderful book about a collection of characters who are forced to grown and change within and around their relationships with each other. It includes some midlife peeps so that’s why it’s in this collection. A keeper. My review is here and you can buy it here.
Two Kinds of Truth by Michael Connelly
Although most of my recommendations are women’s fiction or romance, this crime fiction selection features an older guy. I loved that Harry Bosch is now of retirement age, but still in the thick of crime fighting. My review is here and you can buy it here.
Blueprints by Barbara Delinsky
A 56-year-old woman is put in the position of competing with her daughter for a prized TV spot. They handle it with love and wisdom. My review is here and you can buy it here.
Aren’t You Forgetting Someone? Essays from My Mid-Life Revenge by Kari Lizer
What it’s like to be an empty-nester and working in sexist Hollywood. Brutally funny midlife memoir by the woman who wrote and produced The New Adventures of the Old Christine and others; she writes like you’d think Julia Louis-Dreyfus would sound. My review is here here and you can buy it here.
The Goddesses of Kitchen Avenue by Barbara O’Neal
Trudy, 47, finds out her husband is having an affair and kicks him to the curb. And then she falls apart, because she loves him passionately. My review is here and you can buy it here.
Calling Invisible Women by Jeanne Ray
You know how we older women say we feel invisible? What if you really were? A fun, sweet, wise book. Here’s my review and you can buy it here:
Noah’s Compass by Anne Tyler
A 60 yo man, hiding from life, is fired from his job and suffers a conk on the head. Now he’s obsessed with remembering, but what he really needs is to wake up. A slow start but a lovely book. My review is here and you can buy it here.
The Stuff that Never Happened by Maddie Dawson
A 49-yo woman in a difficult marriage must decide whether to stay with her husband or pursue the love of her life, now that the kids are grown and flown. Great story! My review is here and you can buy it here.
The Painter by Peter Heller
I had mixed feelings about this beautifully written book. A middle-aged painter is trying to transcend his past. He’s kind of a jerk, but he lives in a beautiful place and writes about fly fishing like it’s poetry. Here’s my review and you can buy it here.
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
In this story, a couple in their 60s have made their peace, of sorts, following a horrific event in middle age. Then the husband decides to take action that will change everything. For those who think “old people” can’t change, and anyone else on the planet, read this lovely book. My review is here and you can buy it here.
Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller
Fantastic story about an 82-yr old heroic veteran (he was a sniper in Korea) who goes up against Serbian war criminals to save a 4-yr-old boy. Reminds me of City of Thieves by D. Benioff. My 5-star review is here and you can buy it here.
American by Day by Derek B. Miller
In this follow-up to Norwegian by Night, above, middle-aged Chief Inspector Sigrid Ødegård returns with her dry wit and quietly ballsy attitude. It’s very droll. I laughed myself sick at some of the passages. My review is here and you can buy it here.
The Runaway Midwife by Patricia Harman
Middle-aged Clara Perry, a nurse/midwife, flees from a manslaughter charge and hides out on a remote island on Lake Erie. My review is here and you can buy it here.
Cleaver by Tim Parks
I loved this book but it’s a challenging read. Cleaver, in his 60s, is grief-stricken and at the end of his rope. He takes his overweight and out of shape body and his tech-addicted, codependent mind off on a crazy quest to find some kind of peace and independence in a very rural mountain village in Germany. There, he will either end it all or find himself. My review is here and you can buy it here.
Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
Most of the characters in this book are over 50. It’s masterfully written by the best of the best. My review is here and you can buy it here.
Hacienda by Marj Charlier
I really enjoyed this midlife novel by Marj Charlier. Three women in their 50s buy a fixer-upper in South America. My review is here and you can buy it here.
The Long Walk Home by Will North
A lovely romance in the Welsh countryside featuring a couple around age 60. My review is here and you can buy it here.
Never Change by Elizabeth Berg
This book had me riveted. The plot is about a woman falling in love with a terminally ill man, but the story is really about her growing up unloved and deciding how and whether to live her own life. My review is here and you can buy it here.
Julie and Romeo Get Lucky by Jeanne Ray
The sequel to Julie and Romeo, featuring a couple around age 60. I enjoyed it, and I appreciate Jeanne Ray (Ann Patchett’s mother) for getting mad, like me, about the lack of novels featuring older adults, who have their own unique journeys to undergo. My review is here and you can buy it here.
The Sunset Gang by Warren Adler
What a fun, poignant, fulfilling collection of short stories set in a retirement community in Florida, by the author of War of the Roses. First published in 1977. My review is here and you can buy it here.
Apples Should Be Red by Penny Watson
What a fun, joyful book about two people over 60 who hate each others’ guts and then change their minds. My review is here and you can buy it here.
The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick
A 69-year-old man discovers that his wife of 40 years, who recently died, had a secret life before she met him. His pursuit of her secrets leads him to evolve. My review is here and you can buy it here.
As All My Fathers Were by James A. Misko
Two brothers, both ranchers, both in their 60s, must undertake a trip via horseback and canoe in contemporary Nebraska to understand their impact on the land. I reviewed this award-winner here and you can buy it here.
The One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood
A divorced couple in their 40s, grieving over the death of their 11-year-old son, find redemption in their friendship with a still-evolving 104-year-old neighbor. My review is here and you can buy it here.
Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun by Sarah Ladipo Manyika
Wonderful short book about a colorful 75 year old woman living in San Francisco. My review is here and you can buy it here.
Secrets of Flight by Maggie Leffler
The two main characters are a lonely 87-year-old woman who flew in WWII and has a terrible secret, and a 15-year-old girl who needs a friend. Fantastic story. My review is here and you can buy it here.
The Good House by Ann Leary
Hildy is a 60 year old realtor who is wry, egotistical, alcoholic, and still learning about herself. The historic setting, a pricey Boston seafront town, is engaging as well. My review is here and you can buy it here.
Late Fall by Noelle Adams
This is a love story, and surprise! It’s Older Adult Romance, set in an assisted living environment. I read it in one day and very much enjoyed it. My review is here and you can buy it here.
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