I’m an avid reader of Literary Hub, so I was thrilled that my piece “Finding Your True Self in Middle Age: Ten Midlife Coming of Age Novels” ran in Literary Hub this week.
I got to write about some of my favorite novels through the lens of midlife. Some are old (Paule Marshall’s Praisesong for the Widow, Margaret Drabble’s The Radiant Way) and some are new (Emma Straub’s Time Tomorrow, Christina Clancy’s Shoulder Season). But all are wonderful novels, with characters coming into their full selves alittle later in life.
Here’s the first paragraph:
There’s a jokey cultural shorthand for middle age—comically embarrassing midlife crises and the sense that one’s desirability has plummeted. But midlife can be the moment we cast off the parts of ourselves that never fit. While it may be true we come of age throughout our lives, stepping bravely, or tentatively, into new identities as the old ones chafe, midlife might be the richest time for finding that truer self, a time when we’re young and old, all at once. Read more here.