I feel as if I've shared a similar list of books with favorite "older" characters in the past, but decided to put together a visual for future reference. Every one of these books is worth reading more than once. I've re-read a few and look forward to re-visiting the others in the not-too-distant future.
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (read twice) (5/5)
Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark (5/5)
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (read twice) (4.5/5 and 4/5)
Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf (4.5/5)
Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy (4/5)
Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher (read twice) (5/5)
Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout (read twice) (5/5 and 4.5/5)
Henry, Himself by Stewart O'Nan (5/5)
We Spread by Iain Reid (4.5/5)
Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan (4.75/5)
Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen (4/5)
Evensong by Stewart O'Nan (3/5)*
Night of Miracles by Elizabeth Berg (5/5)
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (4.5/5)
Evenings at Five by Gail Godwin (read twice) (4/5)
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (4.5/5)
A Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg (5/5)
Update:
Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth (4.5/5)
*So odd. I thought I enjoyed this one better until I re-read my review!
Great list. I will bookmark your post for future reference.
ReplyDeleteTina, I'll be interested to see which of this books you wind up reading.
DeleteSo far I've read The Correspondent, Olive Kitteridge, Sipsworth, A Man Called Ove and I own Elegance of a Hedgehog.
DeleteOn my post I linked to many other titles I've read with older characters.
Good list! I've read some but I need to read others here: like Emily Alone and Sipsworth. I like old - wiser- protagonists, lol.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Susan! I'm going to reread Emily, Alone in a few months. I may reread most of these in 2027. At least the ones that I haven't already reread.
DeleteI love this idea. I'm reading a good book right now with an 80-year-old: Mad Mabel.
ReplyDeleteAck! I forgot to include Mad Mabel! I'll add it to the list, but not the collage. Thanks for the reminder Anne.
DeleteThank you for this wonderful list. I just finished a book last night about four older characters by Barbara Pym, Quartet in Autumn. The lives of the four are cautionary tales!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Deb! And thanks for telling me about Quartet in Autumn. I'll look for it at my library (or maybe the audio). It sounds wonderful.
DeleteI've enjoyed so many books with older protagonists over the years and see quite a few that I've loved here. In fact, there only three on your list I haven't read! Surprisingly I have not read Henry, Himself yet, even after loving O'Nan's other books with those characters. I tried A Man Called Ove years ago, but probably didn't give it enough time to get hooked. We Spread is the third.
ReplyDeleteI see Anne already mentioned Mad Mabel. I'd add Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk to my list, too.
JoAnn, I read Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk, but didn't love it. It did bring back great memories of my trip to NYC with my daughter, but the book didn't wow me.
DeleteExcellent list! Now that we baby boomers are aging, we get to have older characters to read about! I absolutely love everything Kent Haruf wrote, and Winter Solstice is maybe my favorite Rosamunde Pilcher novel. The Correspondent was great, but I never really did warm to Olive.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jane! I'm ready to reread a lot of Kent Haruf's books. I was in a bookstore the other day and spotted The Correspondent on display with a box of stationery that matches the cover art for the book. It would make a nice gift for a fan of the novel.
DeleteWhat a great list! Would make a good library display😉.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jen. (I assume this is you.) ;)
DeleteI've read a few of these -- my favourite of your list would probably be The Correspondent. That's one of those rare books that made me weep. There have been some other good suggestions in the comments, so a couple I'd add are: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce (adapted into a film with the excellent Jim Broadbent and Penelope Wilton) and The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle by Matt Cain.
ReplyDeleteHi, Lesley! Yes, The Correspondent really does tug at one's heartstrings, doesn't it? I've read both of the books you've mentioned... really enjoyed The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle, but wasn't a big fan of Harold Fry. Hmmm. Might have to give the film a try, though.
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