7 Novels with Older Female Protagonists

by Susan Roberts

The publishing industry seems to be very uncomfortable with aging women.  If there is an older woman in a novel, she is a secondary character, not the leading character.  Older women are often dismissed.  As a woman who is well over 50, I find it discouraging not to be able to find more books that represent my age group.  We still have problems in our lives -- instead of problems with husbands and parents, we have problems with husbands and children/grandchildren.  We get divorced....remarried no matter what the age.  We have careers and exciting lives. And even though we may have more wisdom than the younger characters, we still don't have all the answers!

Here are a few suggested books with a strong female protagonist. Can you suggest others to add to my list?

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The Leisure Seeker by Michael Zadoorian

Yearning for one last adventure, the self-proclaimed "down-on-their-luck geezers" kidnap themselves from the adult children and doctors who seem to run their lives. Read my full review.

Buy The Leisure Seeker at Amazon

The Red Address Book by Sofia Lundberg 

Meet Doris, a 96-year-old woman living alone in her Stockholm apartment. She has few visitors, but her weekly Skype calls with Jenny—her American grandniece, and her only relative—give her great joy and remind her of her own youth. Read my full review.

Buy The Red Address Book at Amazon

 

The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt by Andrea Bobotis

Interweaving the present with chilling flashbacks from one fateful evening in 1929, Judith pieces together the devastating influence of the Kratt family on their small South Carolina cotton town, learning that the effects of dark family secrets can last a lifetime and beyond. Read my full review.

Buy The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt at Amazon

 

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells

A poignant, funny, outrageous, and wise novel about a lifetime friendship between four Southern women  Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood brilliantly explores the bonds of female friendship, the often-rocky relationship between mothers and daughters, and the healing power of humor and love.

Buy Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood at Amazon

 

This is Your Life, Harriet Chance by Jonathan Evison

With Bernard, her husband of fifty-five years, now in the grave, seventy-eight-year-old Harriet Chance impulsively sets sail alone on an Alaskan cruise that her late husband had planned. But what Harriet hoped would be a voyage leading to a new lease on life becomes a wildly surprising and revelatory journey into her past.  

Buy This is Your Life, Harriet Chance at Amazon

 

A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline

To Christina Olson, the entire world was her family’s remote farm in the small coastal town of Cushing, Maine. Born in the home her family had lived in for generations, and increasingly incapacitated by illness, Christina seemed destined for a small life. Read my full review.

Buy A Piece of the World at Amazon

 

Hieroglyphics by Jill McCorkle

Hieroglyphics is a novel that tugs at the deepest places of the human soul—a beautiful, heart-piercing meditation on life and death and the marks we leave on this world. Read my full review.

Buy Hieroglyphics at Amazon

 

Susan Roberts lives in North Carolina with her husband of over 50 years.  She grew up in Michigan but now calls North Carolina home. Since her travel plans had to be canceled for this year, she is starting to make plans for travel in 2021. She reads almost anything (and the piles of books in her house prove that) but her favorite genres are Southern fiction, women's fiction, and historical fiction. Susan is a top 1% Goodreads Reviewer. You can connect with Susan on Facebook, Goodreads, or Twitter. 

 

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