Open

Books about starting over later in life

+6 more

It's not too late — the proof, in stories of people beginning again at sixty, seventy, beyond. Reinvention with no age limit

Readers decide what's on this shelf.

Stacked by WonderOne · 22 views · Updated 1 month ago

Share this stack

Share card preview for Books about starting over later in life

Or share to

The 10 books on this stack

  • Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

    Helen Simonson · 2010

    Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired) leads a quiet life in the village of St. Mary, England, until his brother's death sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village. Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their respective spouses, the Major and Mrs. Ali soon find their friendship blossoming into something more. But will their relationship survive in a society that considers Ali a foreigner?

    View book
  • The Authenticity Project

    The Authenticity Project

    Clare Pooley · 2025

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Globe and Mail bestseller Toronto Star bestseller A Washington Post “ FEEL-GOOD BOOK guaranteed to lift your spirits” "I loved The Authenticity Project . It's a clever, uplifting book that entertains and makes you think." —Sophie Kinsella, #1 New York Times bestselling author The story of a solitary green notebook that brings together six strangers and leads to unexpected friendship—and even love. Julian Jessop, an eccentric, lonely artist and septuagenarian believes that most people aren't really honest with each other. But what if they were? And so he writes—in a plain, green journal—the truth about his own life and leaves it in his local café. It's run by the incredibly tidy and efficient Monica, who furtively adds her own entry and leaves the book in the wine bar across the street. Before long, the others who find the green notebook add the truths about their own deepest selves—and soon find each other In Real Life at Monica's Café. The Authenticity Project 's cast of characters—including Hazard, the charming addict who makes a vow to get sober; Alice, the fabulous mommy Instagrammer whose real life is a lot less perfect than it looks online; and their other new friends-is by turns quirky and funny, heartbreakingly sad and painfully true-to-life. It's a story about being brave and putting your real self forward—and finding out that it's not as scary as it seems. In fact, it looks a lot like happiness. The Authenticity Project is just the tonic for our times that readers are clamoring for—and one they will take to their hearts and read with unabashed pleasure.

    View book
  • Sipsworth

    Sipsworth

    Simon Van Booy · 2024

    A LOVE READING STAR PICK AND BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR 'A gorgeously odd tale about finding yourself again, unexpectedly. If you want a little piece of joy in your reading life, buy it' Jojo Moyes 'Loaded with charm, resilience, and the deep desire for connection that all mammals share. I loved it' Ann Patchett 'Utterly charming and beautifully written, Sipsworth is a tender tale about loss, loneliness and the healing power of connection that you won't want to put down' Mike Gayle ' Utterly charming and heartwarming ' Ruth Hogan, The Keeper of Lost Things 'Beautiful and enchanting' Washington Post Following the deaths of her husband and son, Helen Cartwright returns from sixty years in Australia to the English village of her childhood. Her only wish is to die quickly and without fuss. Helen retreats into her home on Westminster Crescent, becoming a creature of routine and habit. Then, one cold autumn night, a chance encounter with an abandoned pet mouse on the street outside her house sets Helen on a surprising journey of friendship, and a way back into life itself.

    View book
  • News of the World ARE

    News of the World ARE

    Paulette Jiles · 2016

    In the wake of the Civil War, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd travels through northern Texas, giving live readings from newspapers to paying audiences hungry for news of the world. An elderly widower who has lived through three wars and fought in two of them, the captain enjoys his rootless, solitary existence. In Wichita Falls, he is offered a $50 gold piece to deliver a young orphan to her relatives in San Antonio. Four years earlier, a band of Kiowa raiders killed Johanna's parents and sister; sparing the little girl, they raised her as one of their own. Recently rescued by the U.S. army, the ten-year-old has once again been torn away from the only home she knows. Their 400-mile journey south through unsettled territory and unforgiving terrain proves difficult and at times dangerous. Johanna has forgotten the English language, tries to escape at every opportunity, throws away her shoes, and refuses to act "civilized." Yet as the miles pass, the two lonely survivors tentatively begin to trust each other, forming a bond that marks the difference between life and death in this treacherous land. Arriving in San Antonio, the reunion is neither happy nor welcome. The captain must hand Johanna over to an aunt and uncle she does not remember -- strangers who regard her as an unwanted burden. A respectable man, Captain Kidd is faced with a terrible choice: abandon the girl to her fate or become -- in the eyes of the law -- a kidnapper himself.

    View book
  • Man Called Ove

    Man Called Ove

    Fredrik Backman · 2012

    The million-copy bestselling phenomenon, Fredrik Backman's heartwarming debut is a funny, moving, uplifting tale of love and community that will leave you with a spring in your step. Perfect for fans of Rachel Joyce's The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Project and David Nicholl's US. Soon to be a major film starring Tom Hanks New York Times bestseller 'Warm, funny, and almost unbearably moving' Daily Mail 'Rescued all those men who constantly mean to read novels but never get round to it' Spectator Books of the Year At first sight, Ove is almost certainly the grumpiest man you will ever meet. He thinks himself surrounded by idiots - neighbours who can't reverse a trailer properly, joggers, shop assistants who talk in code, and the perpetrators of the vicious coup d'etat that ousted him as Chairman of the Residents' Association. He will persist in making his daily inspection rounds of the local streets.But isn't it rare, these days, to find such old-fashioned clarity of belief and deed? Such unswerving conviction about what the world should be, and a lifelong dedication to making it just so?In the end, you will see, there is something about Ove that is quite irresistible...

    View book
  • A Grand Old Time

    A Grand Old Time

    Judy Leigh · 2018

    ‘Brilliantly funny, emotional and uplifting’ Miranda Dickinson A funny and heartwarming debut for fans of Celia Imrie and Dawn French. Evie Gallagher is regretting her hasty move into a care home. She may be seventy-five and recently widowed, but she’s absolutely not dead yet. And so, one morning, Evie walks out of Sheldon Lodge and sets off on a Great Adventure across Europe. But not everyone thinks Great Adventures are appropriate for women of Evie’s age, least of all her son Brendan and his wife Maura, who follow a trail of puzzling text messages to bring her home. When they finally catch up with her, there are shocks in store . . . because while Brendan may have given up on life and love, Evie certainly has not. 'Lovely . . . a book that assures that life is far from over at seventy' Cathy Hopkins, bestselling author of The Kicking the Bucket List

    View book
  • The Switch

    The Switch

    Beth O'Leary · 2020

    * READ BETH O'LEARY'S BRAND NEW UNMISSABLE ROMANCE, THE NAME GAME , OUT NOW * 'So charming, so sweet and so lovely' MARIAN KEYES Leena is too young to feel stuck. Eileen is too old to start over. Maybe it's time for The Switch... Ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, Leena escapes to her grandmother Eileen's house for some overdue rest. Newly single and about to turn eighty, Eileen would like a second chance at love. But her tiny Yorkshire village doesn't offer many eligible gentlemen. So Leena proposes a solution: a two-month swap. Eileen can live in London and look for love, and Leena will look after everything in rural Yorkshire. But with a rabble of unruly OAPs to contend with, as well as the annoyingly perfect - and distractingly handsome - local schoolteacher, Leena learns that switching lives isn't straightforward. Back in London, Eileen is a huge hit with her new neighbours, and with the online dating scene. But is her perfect match nearer to home than she first thought? Readers love The Switch 'Her books are a warm hug and a mug of hot chocolate . . . just perfection ' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'You will fall in love with the characters' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I loved it so much' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ' Emotional , heartwarming and full of surprises' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Everyone's fallen for Beth O'Leary 'Blissful escapism' Daily Mail 'The feel-good read we all need right now' Stylist ' Heart-warming ' Bella ' This delicious slice of feelgood fiction is a real tonic ' Sunday Mirror ' Everything you want to lift your spirits' Good Housekeeping

    View book
  • The Thursday Murder Club

    The Thursday Murder Club

    Richard Osman · 2020

    In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves The Thursday Murder Club. There's Red Ron, the infamous former socialist firebrand, still causing trouble; gentle Joyce, widowed, pining for another resident, but surely not as innocent as she seems; Ibrahim, a former therapist who understands the darker side of human nature; and Elizabeth? Well, no one is quite sure who she really is, but she's definitely not a woman to underestimate. When a local developer is found dead, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case. The friends might be septuagenarians, but they are cleverer than most. Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late?

    View book
  • Our souls at night

    Our souls at night

    Kent Haruf · 2015

    Addie Moore pays an unexpected visit to her neighbor, Louis Waters. Her husband died years ago, as did his wife, and in such a small town they naturally have long been aware of each other, if not exactly friends; in fact, Addie was quite fond of Louis’s wife. His daughter, Holly, lives hours away in Colorado Springs; her son, Gene, even farther away in Grand Junction. What Addie has come to ask — since she and Louis have been living alone for so long in houses now empty of family, and the nights are so terribly lonely — is whether he might be willing to spend them with her, in her bed, so they can have someone to talk with.

    View book