Aging Fiction

Meet Claire: fifty-two, desperate to do something new and get a fresh start. Enter the chance to go to Rome: Home to a struggling convent facing a precipitous end, the city beckons Claire, who's long had a complicated relationship with religion, including a “missed connection” with convent life in her teens. Once in Rome, she finds a group of funny, fearless nuns in a gorgeous villa, beautiful runs throughout a color-saturated city, and a chance to reflect. It all leads her to an unexpected question—should she join the convent?

'Fans of Maeve Binchy and Cathy Kelly will love this.' A story of the aftermath, of picking up the pieces, of finding yourself again and discovering that life isn’t always easy . . . it’s not meant to be, but it can be worth it. Ann Maguire believes that discovering the truth of her past will set her free, but sometimes having all the answers isn’t enough . . . Forced to leave Dublin after her marriage crumbles, Ann returns to her childhood home of Knockmore, to find herself even more isolated than before. Catapulted back to grieving for her parents and the life she once knew, ...

Joan Boice, a retired school teacher afflicted with dementia, hoped to hang on to her dignity and safety when she checked into Emerald Hills, a facility run by America’s largest assisted living company. What she and her family got was an introduction to what many think is the country’s next great health crisis.

This stunning new novel showcases Sue Miller's singular gift for exposing the nerves that lie hidden in marriages and families, and the hopes and regrets that lie buried in the hearts of women.

From #1 New York Times best-selling humorist Jill Conner Browne comes a hilarious life maintenance program designed to help women navigate our hyper-visual society's obsessions with body image, clothing, and personal appearance. Getting and keeping that Queenly Look is no small feat - a good portion of our lives is devoted to our hair, our skin tone, our figure flaws, and our clothes.

When 39-year-old Maria Forssmann wakes up in her 17-year-old body, she doesn’t know how she got there. All she does know is she has to get back: to her home in Bienville, Mississippi, to her job as a successful psychiatrist and, most importantly, to her husband, daughters, and unborn son.

The life of 79-year-old pensioner Peggy Smart is as beige as the décor in her retirement village. Her week revolves around aqua aerobics and appointments with her doctor. Following a very minor traffic accident, things have turned frosty with her grown-up children, and she is afraid they are trying to take away her independence. Noticing her memory isn't what it used to be, Peggy is taking ever more inventive steps to cover up her dwindling faculties.

New abilities, new secrets. Does deception run in her genes? Millie's friends have warned her new home construction results in more divorces than infidelity does, but the problems that come out of the woodwork while designing her dream home have nothing to do with her marriage. Well, almost nothing. Practicing her familial gifts stirs up worlds of trouble and has her questioning what it means for her children and grandchildren. Will the forces working against her husband put his life in jeopardy or can she bridge the gap between him and the forest she loves? Pick up a hammer and join Millie...

Decisions is the twelfth novella in the ongoing story of the Andersen family. Livia Andersen was a woman who held her family together with a quiet smile and an iron will. It’s only been months since her death and the four children she leaves behind continue to grapple with the shifting changes in their lives now that she’s gone. Disappointments she kept to herself are slowly coming to light. And the grandchildren she adored are struggling for answers that aren’t always easily found. Chris Andersen has always looked at life as an adventure and the unknowns just around the corner as ...

In this SciFi short story, an old mountain biker encounters aliens from another planet that rescue him after a fall and make him young again. Then they offer a similar gift to the entire planet, but with conditions. This is book one of a series. *** Excerpt *** Then things got weird. A section of the craft faded away, scattering the magpies as two creatures floated towards him. They were wearing odd helmets and suits. There was no way to tell what they looked like inside their gear. In perfect English, the nearest creature asked Met if he was alright. "I've injured my knee," Met replied. ...

StumpStrong: An Epistolary Novel of First Loves, Second Chances, and Finding Strength in Roots From a “fresh and fun new voice in women’s fiction”: a divorcee finds her voice and courage thanks to an account of war and survival out of her family history. Patricia Moore is coming of age. The age is menopause. And she might not survive it. Her growing pains include not only hot flashes but sharp pangs of loneliness. Her daughter is away at college. Her dear Sheltie, Zoomie, still loves her ex-husband, who’s got new muscles and a new girlfriend. And then there’s the sudden, teenage-...

When four graduates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they're broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their centre of gravity. Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride.

An aging New Yorker, a writer named Nick, feels life ebbing out of him. One night, at a dimly lit bar, he meets a tantalizing young woman, and the night that follows is the most extraordinary of his life. Propelled by uncontrollable, primordial desires, he tastes human blood for the first time and is filled with a sexual and spiritual ecstasy. His revival quickly fades, and soon Nick is yearning for another taste of the elusive rapture.

At twenty-seven years-old, George Fairweather is “the voice of his generation”, a poet whose talent has garnered him accolades from the literary establishment and homage from the disenfranchised “hippie” youth of the late 1960’s.George is the embodiment of the times with his long hair, rebellious attitude and regular use of mind-expanding psychedelic drugs.Then the sudden and tragic death of Fallon, his friend, his muse and his lover shatters his world, his sanity and nearly ends his life.Katherine is the one person who stands between George and destruction. A hanger-on, a groupie...

At some point in everyone's life, everyone will be placed in the position of dealing with the death of a loved one. Arranging all the necessary details at such a difficult time can prove overwhelming. However, help is now at hand in this guide that covers all the essential aspects. Drawing from the counsel of funeral directors, clergy, attorneys, estate planners, and psychologists and with references to Web sites and other sources of further information, this book provides straightforward and reassuring advice that is both practical and comforting at this difficult time.

Darya can’t help it. She sees things other people don’t. It’s hard to protect a woman who won’t let her bodyguard go with her, but there could be a reason for that, and Slade is pretty sure what that reason is. His name is Nick, a scientist who works for Darya in Mexico City and persuades her to take a dangerous side trip with him to Guatemala. A Food and Drug Administration employee has been bribed to approve a drug. It’s not the first time he’s paid to get a drug on the market, even when tests show the drug kills people. So much for healing. Kidnapping and murder aren’t all ...

Beware of Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing! When Max Harmon took the detective job in Rohm, he figured it was a nice little all-American town and a great place to spend his days until retirement. Boy, was he wrong! When a hitman comes to Rohm and assumes the role of the parish priest, something just doesn’t seem right. When everything you do is an uphill battle, sometimes the wise person reaches a point where enough is enough. As Max stands at a crossroads, he is faced with the daunting task of deciding to stay with the friends and colleagues he has taken him in, and face the continued Good ...

The information in To Die Well is both comforting and empowering. Knowing our rights to refuse treatment, as well as legal ways to bring about death if pain or distress cannot be alleviated, will spare us the frightening helplessness that can rob our last days of meaning and connection with others.

All of us are familiar with the fairy tales of youth where the young hero and heroine fall in love, defeat their enemies, marry, and live happily ever after. The fairy tales gathered here are about what happens next, when the Prince goes bald and the Princess has a midlife crisis. They portray middle-aged men and women facing the special issues dealing with crisis, aging and mortality, and the desire for renewal.

For Sale: Farm Fresh Freakouts When Millie's property suddenly produces an abundance of herbs, she sets out to share her good fortune. If she had her way, her most expensive item would be absolutely free, but her husband has a plan to pay for a shiny new tractor. Against her better judgment, Millie hangs out a shingle and passes her bounty on to local tourists. For a fee. When customers begin experiencing anomalies, she has to take a step back to consider her products...and her CEO. Dig into Wisdom of the Sages, the second book in the Back Forty Bliss series, and find out what's up with ...