If every list of writers under the age of 25, 30, 35, or 40 has you feeling like you're running out of time, don't fret. Check out this list of six women writers who began publishing after age 70 to remind yourself that you always have time to achieve your dreams.
As I approach the big Three-Oh, I realize I've finally hit that sweet, sweet age where people don't think that I'm too young to know what I'm talking about, or that I'm too old to be of any use. But with all the focus on accomplishing things as young as possible, I also feel like I'm personally running out of time, and I wonder where all the stories from older women — the women whose community I'll one day be a part of — have gone? Shows like The Golden Girls and Hot in Cleveland proved that women could still be sexy and relevant past the age of 50, but where are the books to show that women writers don't have an expiration date?
Focusing on women who made their publishing debuts after the age of 70, I've compiled a short list of six, must-read women who didn't let others' expectations determine what they could accomplish:
Mary Wesley, author of 'Jumping the Queue' (age 70)
Although Mary Wesley published several children's books when she was a younger woman, her first novel for adults, Jumping the Queue, appeared on store shelves after her 70th birthday. The story centers on Matilda, a woman who has decided to kill herself, and has even gone so far as to set her affairs in order. Matilda's plans are waylaid however, when she meets Hugh, a man on the run from the police, who has his own suicidal intentions.
Anne Youngson, author of 'Meet Me at the Museum' (age 71)
Two distant penpals who believed their chances at finding love were over find themselves falling for one another in this novel. A Danish professor and an English farmer connect over a famous bog body, but when one suddenly stops writing, the other must find out what has happened on the other side of the North Sea.
Norma MacMaster, author of 'Silence Under a Stone' (age 72)
Residing now in a nursing home, Harriet relives her adulthood, including her marriage to Thomas, and the birth of their son James, in Silence Under a Stone, Norma MacMaster's poignant debut novel of faith and family.
Harriet Doerr, author of 'Stones for Ibarra' (age 74)
Fifty years after his grandfather left a copper mine untended in Ibarra, Mexico, Richard Everton and his wife Sara travel to the village to reclaim and reopen it in this award-winning novel.
Lorna Page, author of 'A Dangerous Weakness' (age 93)
After accepting an old friend's invitation to a Christmas getaway in Switzerland, the unsuspecting Marion finds herself trapped in a web of deceit, woven by her husband in this 2008 debut from Lorna Page.
Sarah Yerkes, author of 'Days of Blue and Flame' (age 101)
A debut poetry collection from a 101-year-old author, Sarah Yerkes' Days of Blue and Flame just landed in stores this summer. Published just four years after Yerkes began to write poetry, this collection will surprise and inspire you.
