36, A book with a primary character who is a woman over 40

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

Let's let the women of a certain age shine! They have lived and have stories to tell! So let's listen!

ATY Listopiahttps://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

How old is the character in your book? How does her age effect the story?

[Dixie]

My list of possibilities:
What We Can Know
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
Do Not Go Gentle. Go to Paris.: Travels of an Uncertain Woman of a Certain Age
The Crow Trap
Euphoria
Downbelow Station
Island in the Sea of Time
Silas Marner
Flaubert's Parrot
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk
Cranford
The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax

[Angie]

Lots of ideas for this one:

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax
The Thursday Murder Club
Cranford
Killers of a Certain Age
The Body in the Library

[NancyJ]

I really like this prompt, but it will take me some time to find the right book. I can think of many books about 40 something women that I already read, but I’m not sure which books on my tbr fit. It’s easier to spot books about much older women. (I have Mrs Pollifax as a back up option, but she fits other prompts too.). I might look for more books about mother -daughter relationships.

I really liked
Tom Lake
The Wedding People - she’s 40
Wrong Place Wrong Time
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
Three Days in June
Search

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Possibilities for 2026
Heartwood by amity gage
Lost Lake
How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water
The Island of Sea Women
Fellowship Point
The Correspondent

[LeahS]

Sandwich and The Invisible Women’s Club

[Marie]

This was a tricky one to research, most of the books I found were either elderly characters or about crime, divorce and/or parenting, but I wanted to read something a bit different.

Eventually I found the perfect fit and I'm going to read The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty, I don't think I've ever read this type of book with a women in her 40s as the protagonist, so I'm really excited about this one.

[Angie]

I'm thinking Terms of Endearment might fit. I couldn't find the age of the mother, but it seems like it's a contender.

[Charlsa]

Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother and Daughter Journey to the Sacred Places of Greece, Turkey, and France by Sue Monk Kidd.

[Deborah]

Current possibilities:

Witches of a Certain Age

The Year of Magical Thinking

A Grandma's Magic

[Alesha]

Absolutely loved Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers!

[Pam]

The books I'm considering:
The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

I feel like this is one of those prompts where you read the book first and then realize it works.

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

Pam wrote: "I feel like this is one of those prompts where you read the book first and then realize it works

It's definitely one of the ones I leave open and then when I start shifting books around at the end of the year move something into

[Ron]

For this one I am going to stretch this and include 'author' over age 40 and not just a character, because I have a hard time with fiction sometimes.

That being said, actress Jennie Garth has a new book coming out next year and she's 53 years old so I want to include that one.

I Choose Me: Chasing Joy, Finding Purpose & Embracing Reinvention

[Monica]

I'm going to read A House for Alice by Diana Evans. Alice has several children, and at least one of tham is married, so I assume that Alice is at least 40. I am currently reading Miss Cecily's Recipes for Exceptional Ladies by Vicky Zimmerman for the 2025 ATY Challenge. Miss Cecily is 97.

[Misty]

Marie wrote: "Eventually I found the perfect fit and I'm going to read The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty, I don't think I've ever read this type of book with a women in her 40s as the protagonist, so I'm really excited about this one."

That book is amazing!!!!! I loved it.

I am going to read the fourth book in the Aunty Lee series: Meddling and Murder by Ovidia Yu