Aging Fiction

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cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their centre of gravity.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.

In a New York Times review of Alice Notley’s 2007 collection In the Pines, Joel Brouwer wrote that “the radical freshness of Notley’s poems stems not from what they talk about, but how they talk, in a stream-of-consciousness style that both describes and dramatizes the movement of the poet’s restless mind, leaping associatively from one idea or sound to the next.” Notley’s new collection is at once a window into the sources of her telepathic and visionary poetics, and a memoir through poems of her Paris-based life between 2000 and 2017, when she finished treatment for her first breast cancer.

Veteran con artist Roy spots an obvious easy mark when he meets Betty, a wealthy widow, online. In no time at all, he's moved into Betty's lovely cottage and is preparing to accompany her on a romantic trip to Europe. Betty's grandson disapproves of their blossoming relationship, but Roy is sure this scheme will be a success. He knows what he's doing. As this remarkable feat of storytelling weaves together Roy's and Betty's futures, it also unwinds their pasts.

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.

Growing up in foster care, Muir has lived in many houses. And if she's learned one thing, it is to Pack. Light. Carry only what fits in a suitcase. Toothbrush? Yes. Socks? Yes. Emotional attachment to friends? Foster families? A boyfriend? Nope! There's no room for any additional baggage. Muir has just one year left before she ages out of the system. One year before she's free. One year to avoid anything - or anyone - that could get in her way. Then she meets Francine. And Kira. And Sean. And everything changes.

The intrepid women of The Hot Flash Club are back for the holidays, soothing jingled nerves and stressed shoppers in their exclusive spa and celebrating the joys of the season. In her witty and delightfully wisecracking prose, Nancy Thayer tells a heartwarming tale packed with fun, secrets, romance, and an ample dose of good cheer.

The last thing Maria expected when she returned to the United States from France was to be arrested at the airport. Is she fated to spend the rest of her life in prison? Follow the loveable yet eccentric private investigator, Slade Kelly, (a readers' favorite), as he tries to keep Maria from going to prison. The story moves at a rapid pace, from the ghettos of Chicago to the beaches of Florida, from the streets of Los Angeles to the lush gardens of New York city. Each twist and turn comes with its own cast of colorful characters, from sleazy men in the Mafia to hot, desperate women, who ...

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 ...

Older people have special issues regarding work, relationships, health, money, and the meaning of life. These short-short stories address them.

In a historic farmhouse outside Boston, 70-year-old Percy Darling is settling happily into retirement: Reading novels, watching old movies, and swimming naked in his pond. His routines are disrupted, however, when he is persuaded to let a locally beloved preschool take over his barn. As Percy sees his rural refuge overrun by children, parents, and teachers, he must reexamine the solitary life he has made in the three decades since the sudden death of his wife. No longer can he remain aloof from his community.

The Bennett Women is an absorbing portrayal of three women who are at a crossroad with one another and the world around them. Muriel Bennett is a feisty eighty-two-year-old artist who struggles to maintain her independence. For the past forty years, she has happily resided at her Oregon lakefront home. She wants to live on her terms, but soon discovers how little control she has over her life. Susanne Bennett is a fifty-four-year-old CEO of a Fortune 500 technology company located in California. She leads more than three hundred thousand employees worldwide, but has little influence over ...

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?

This award-winning anthology of poetry and prose takes a new look at being a woman - particularly an aging woman - in a society that prizes and glorifies youth. The works are by both younger writers looking forward in time and writers who have experienced the joys and challenges of growing older. This international best seller was put together by editor Sandra Martz who selected the collection's pieces from thousands of submitted manuscripts.

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-...

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.

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 ...

The notorious baby boomers - the largest age cohort in history - are approaching the end and starting to plan their final moves in the game of life. Now they are asking: What was that all about? Was it about acquiring things or changing the world? Was it about keeping all your marbles? Or is the only thing that counts after you're gone the reputation you leave behind?

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.

'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, ...

Close to turning eighty, in the midst of a demographic winter, the millennial Ebenezer Espósito urgently needs to hire a prepaid nursing home. He doesn’t want just any nursing home... he wants the one with the best care, since he has no children to oversee his care. Fortunately, he has found the right place, where every detail will be taken into account. A short story of social satire about the problem faced by many communities that have entered the process of demographic winter.