The frazzled fortysomething woman is this summer's literary sensation
How the frazzled fortysomething woman became this summer’s literary sensation
- A raft of novels featuring midlife heroines are filling the shelves — some of them even divorced
- READ MORE: Author Patricia Nicol reveals a selection of the best books on: Sisterhood
Meg RYAN’S character being told ‘it’s easier to be killed by a terrorist than it is to find a husband over the age of 40,’ is one of the most memorable lines in Sleepless In Seattle.
‘That statistic is not true!’ she responds. ‘But it feels true,’ quips her friend played by Rosie O’Donnell, in the hit film that’s now three decades old.
Happily, midlife is no longer the cut-off point for love — but, for a long time, to read a romantic comedy you might think so.
Heroines tended to be in their 20s and early 30s, early career gals tearing round the big city and looking for Mr Right, like Bridget Jones panicking among the ‘smug marrieds’ at just 34.
But no more. Now a raft of novels featuring midlife heroines are filling the shelves — some of them even (gasp) divorced — as publishers increasingly recognise that falling in love isn’t just for those starting out in life, but muddling through the middle (and beyond) too.
For a long time, heroines in romantic comedies tended to be in their 20s and early 30s, like Bridget Jones panicking among the ‘smug marrieds’ at just 34, but now a raft of novels featuring midlife heroines are filling the shelves
A slew of recent bestsellers have helped: notably the word-of-mouth hit Confessions Of A Forty-Something F*** Up from Alexandra Potter, whose endearing heroine Nell is not where she expected to be at this time in her life.
It has sold a quarter of a million copies and spawned the Disney+ series Not Dead Yet which landed in the UK this month.
‘I think “midlife” should be renamed “the best is yet to come”,’ says author Alexandra.
‘I’ve been writing bestselling romantic comedies for more than 20 years, but whereas previously the focus was always about finding the man and falling in love, now that focus has shifted and it’s about being older, finding yourself and falling in love with your life, in whatever form that takes.’
And she’s far from alone in finding the romance in a different timeline.
American author Curtis Sittenfeld’s Romantic Comedy plays with the conventions of the genre and features a late-30s heroine who tells the book’s rockstar love interest that her job as a comedy writer has been the love of her life.
Sittenfeld has said that the overwhelming response to the book has her wondering what she’ll tackle next: ‘Could it be romance for women in their 50s and 60s and 70s?’
Meanwhile Marian Keyes, whose latest No1 bestseller is Again, Rachel, the sequel to her seminal Rachel’s Holiday, which revisits our now fortysomething eponymous heroine, recently revealed her next book is a ‘menopausal romance’ set in Ireland.
The word-of-mouth hit Confessions Of A Forty-Something F*** Up from Alexandra Potter, whose endearing heroine Nell is not where she expected to be at this time in her life, is one of the bestsellers that has helped drive the change
It will focus on Rachel’s sister Anna ‘and a man that she’s had an on-off thing with for 22 years’.
Brilliantly upping the stakes, our heroine ‘can’t get HRT because the doctors in Ireland are not as, how would you call it, generous with the prescriptions as they are in the U.S.’.
It ties in, too, to a wider recognition in popular culture that romance doesn’t end at age 30.
In recent film releases we’ve had Reese Witherspoon (47), Julia Roberts (55), and Jennifer Lopez (53) returning to their roots as rom-com heroines; while off-screen J.Lo has reunited with Ben Affleck for her very own second-chance romance (a popular subgenre).
As Sara-Jade Virtue, brand development director for fiction at Simon & Schuster UK, explains, fiction is just catching up with reality:
‘The image of a middle-aged woman has gone from Nora Batty to Viola Davis, Helen Mirren, Halle Berry, Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore, Michelle Obama and Monica Bellucci.
‘More of us than ever before are seeking more fulfilment from life as we get older — more freedoms, more right to choice, more sex.
Sara-Jade Virtue, brand development director for fiction at Simon & Schuster UK, believes that fiction is just catching up with the reality that we’re falling in love later in life
‘We’re falling in love later in life, again, afresh and anew. We’re not yet ready to hang up our boots and libido and call it a day. And we want novels that speak of that experience — written by women who have lived it too.’
So, whether you’re looking for your Mr Right (for midlife), or just want to hear from a heroine who reflects you, you’re spoilt for choice this summer. Here’s a selection of mid-lit to relish…
Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes has just been published in paperback
RACHEL RETURNS …WITHOUT LUKE
Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes (£9.99, Michael Joseph)
Newly published in paperback, this surprisingly moving sequel returns us to Marian Keyes’ heroine Rachel Walsh at a point in her life where all seems to be going swimmingly, even if former love interest Luke Costello, and his legendary leather trousers, are no longer in the picture.
But what really happened between them? In the present day, the one-time couple cross paths again . . .
PENNY DROPS OLD LIFE AND TAKES OFF
Fly Me To Paris by Helga Jensen (£8.99, Hera)
In this uplifting novel from a former airline stewardess, Penny has just turned 50 and her job and relationship are going nowhere — so she signs up for a job as cabin crew. Adventures ensue, including a handsome pilot.
A read that’s about finding your joy later in life.
Fly Me To Paris is an uplifting read from a former airline stewardess Helga Jensen
Mike Gayle is known for his ability to pluck at the heartstrings
BETRAYED MUM ROCKED BY EX
A Song of Me and You by Mike Gayle (16.99, Hodder & Stoughton, out July 6)
Helen and Ben broke up as teenagers; decades later, she is a mother-of-two with a love-rat husband — then Ben turns up, now a world-famous rockstar (that’s right, another rockstar: no one ever said midlife romance meant dreary realism).
This second-chance romance comes from the sure hands of Mike Gayle, known for his ability to pluck the heartstrings.
IN SEARCH OF LOVE THAT NEVER DIED
Thirty Days in Paris by Veronica Henry (£14.99, Orion)
Fiftysomething Juliet, separated from her husband, heads off to rediscover her first love. Add in a hot French bookshop owner, and the latest from the bestselling author promises romance in spades.
But Veronica Henry says ‘it’s also about creating a new life at a certain age’. ‘My main protagonists are usually around my age and have grown with me.’
In Thirty Days in Paris, Juliet, who is in her fifties and separated from her husband, heads off to rediscover her first love
NEVER TOO LATE TO START AGAIN
Heroine Nell is back with best friend Cricket, a widow in her 80s, and realising there’s no point in a life that’s always smooth
More Confessions Of A Forty-Something F*** Up by Alexandra Potter (£16.99, Pan Macmillan, out Aug 17)
Our heroine Nell is back with best friend Cricket, an eightysomething widow, and realising there’s no point in life where things just start going smoothly all the time.
Potter’s message is that ‘it’s never too late to start over, to keep growing and learning, discovering unexpected joys, having fun, falling in love and going on adventures’. Read the first one and put this in your case.
SECOND CHANCES AFTER TRAGIC LOSS
P.S. Come To Italy by Nicky Pellegrino (£14.99, Orion)
With a touching backstory about living with a partner with dementia, this novel from the bestselling author sees a woman in her 50s, who loses her much older husband, find a second chance at life and love in Italy.
A woman in her 50s, who loses her much older husband, find a second chance at life and love in Italy
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