Play 2026 Book Bingo
Books With Characters in Their 50s
By: Angela & Melissa
Updated:
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we may earn a referral fee from qualifying purchases.Whether you’re participating in the Lifetime of Reading Challenge, or simply looking for books about midlife, you’ll find your next great read on our list of books with main characters in their 50s.
One of our main goals for the Lifetime of Reading Challenge is to build understanding and deepen our appreciation for people in different phases of life. As a result, we focus primarily—but not exclusively—on contemporary stories with protagonists in their 50s.
These stories can help readers understand what life in one’s 50s is like in today’s society. They address a wide range of topics, including career changes and ageism, becoming an empty nester, caring for aging parents, marriage, divorce, midlife romance, and much more.
Most of the recommendations are novels about middle age, but the list also includes several memoirs about life in one’s 50s. The titles feature both female and male protagonists who vary in race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, class, background, lifestyle, and more.
The Best Books with Main Characters in Their 50s
Book Summary
Women in their fifties often begin to feel invisible, but 52-year-old Tilda Finch is literally disappearing. First, her pinky and ear suddenly disappear from view, and then she receives an official diagnosis of “invisibility disorder,” an incurable condition said to afflict middle‑aged women.
Of course, she felt it long before that. Her husband left her for a younger woman, and she’s never really recovered from her divorce or difficult childhood. Somewhere along the way, she lost sight of the woman she wanted to be.
Tilda discovers that there are support groups for women like her, but she’s disappointed to see how resigned the women are to simply fading away. She decides to instead seek the help of a controversial therapist. If she ever hopes to become visible again, she’ll have to face the traumas of her past and change the way she sees the world and herself.
Genre Note
This novel uses magical realism, through Tilda’s literal disappearance, to explore the metaphorical invisibility many women feel as they age.
Sandwich
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
93% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Every summer for the past two decades, Rocky’s family has vacationed at the same rental house in Cape Cod. This year, Rocky is squarely sandwiched between her young adult kids, who still need her in many ways, and her aging parents, who are beginning to need her more and more. All the while, Rocky herself is in the throes of menopause, complete with hormonal bouts of rage and melancholy.
As usual, the family’s annual beach week is spent reminiscing about summers past as well as making new memories. But this year, with so much feeling in flux in her own life, Rocky finds herself fixating on an event from her past that she’s kept secret for far too long. She must come to terms with both her family’s history and future.
Consider This Before Reading
While this novel unfolds over the course of a one-week family vacation to Cape Cod, the flashbacks to past summers enable the author to create richly drawn, complex characters.
Angela and Melissa both loved this book, rating it 4.5 stars, but they’re not surprised that the overall rating of the book is a little lower. The novel takes a deep dive into the less glamorous realities of menopause that many women of a certain age know well—and the Book Girls are getting there ourselves. Many will find it very relatable and humorous (sometimes in a “laugh so you don’t cry” kind of way). However, younger readers may not enjoy some of the very specific details, and older readers may not be ready to revisit them.
Take Me with You
Book Summary
College professor Jesse and his husband Norman have been together for thirty years when Norman climbs out of bed one night and disappears. Norman walked out into their Joshua Tree backyard, stepped into a strange beam of light, and then he was gone. Where did he go, and will he ever return?
Jesse knows that he and Norman had both been longing for something and feeling stuck, but did Norman feel so stuck that his only option was to leave Jesse behind? Facing the reality that Norman may not return, Jesse questions what life in his 50s should look like as he moves forward. He’s always been one half of a whole, so he’s uncertain how to live alone. Should he return to teaching, put in a pool, or get a dog?
Adding to Jesse’s confusion are his conspiracy-theorist neighbor, a strange man following him, and Norman’s sister Lally, who shows up on his doorstep with an urgent request. With his husband missing and the world closing in, all eyes are on Jesse. Before he can understand how Norman could leave it all behind, Jesse must confront what it means to stay.
Why We Think You’ll Love It
We’ve loved everything Steven Rowley has written, from The Editor to The Guncle, and from Lily and the Octopus to The Celebrants. Each of these backlist titles could be described as humorous and poignant, but all of his novels are also distinct from one another.
Readers describe this as a story about living and discovering that it’s never too late to readjust your life’s course. This book is said to be charming, witty, and filled with pop culture references that are perfect for those who remember the 1980s and 1990s.
Book Summary
Fifty-something Jane and her four dogs live an isolated life on a large English estate. When she finds a white dog named Hugo on her property and can’t locate the teen girl who had been staying nearby with him, she decides to return him to his registered owner, whose address is hours away in Hampstead, London.
When Jane arrives, she is unsettled to discover that she personally has a dark connection to the house. The man who answers the door immediately makes her feel uneasy. He says that the dog must have been stolen, but Jane doubts this story. Through the window, she catches a glimpse of a haunted-looking woman, and the deeper she looks, the more she senses that something dangerous is hiding beneath the surface.
What to Expect in This Novel
Early readers say that the plot is a slow-burn compared to the faster pace of many of Lisa Jewell’s novels, but that once the pieces start falling into place, it becomes totally addictive.
Lisa Jewell’s Then She Was Gone also features a main character in her mid-50s.
Abigail and Alexa Save the Wedding
Book Summary
Penelope is a hard-working and bubbly Californian. Her fiancé, Chase, is smart and charming, with future political aspirations. Everyone is looking forward to their over-the-top dream wedding…except their mothers.
Penelope’s mom, Alexa, is Greek, and as a single mom, she doesn’t understand why any woman would get married. Chase’s mom, Abigail, lives in coastal Connecticut and doesn’t understand why the wedding isn’t happening at her golf club. Then, a sudden twist of fate leaves these very different mothers-in-law in charge of finishing the wedding planning together.
Why This Book Made the List
Both Abigail and Alexa are in their 50s. Watching an adult child marry and welcoming new members into the extended family are highly relatable experiences for many people in their 50s.
If you love Southern fiction, you may want to pick up By Invitation Only by Dorothea Benton Frank, which also highlights two 50-something mothers whose children are getting married.
Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure
Book Summary
Ellie is in her early 50s and has been married for thirty devoted years, so she is shocked when her husband asks for a divorce, which was very uncommon in 1938. Despite being blindsided, she is eager to leave him behind. She lets him keep their home and decides it is finally time for an adventure of her own.
Her housekeeper, Mavis, and her elderly friend, Dora, are also in need of escape, so they join her in the Bentley and set out to the South of France. They make it to the inviting French fishing hamlet of Saint Benet before the Bentley breaks down. It’s such a lovely town, they decide to rent an abandoned villa in the hills and start a new life surrounded by friendly villagers. But within their picture-perfect surroundings, a growing threat of war looms on the horizon.
Thoughts on This Book
While the 1930s were a difficult decade around the world, from the Great Depression and Dust Bowl to the start of WW2, this book offers a gentler peek into the life of a middle-aged main character during this era than most titles on our list. While some reviewers say it’s a bit predictable at times, they also appreciate that it’s a less emotionally taxing read.
The novel does include romance, but readers say the friendship storylines are more prevalent.
The Sea Sisters Swimming Club
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
At 50, Fran planned to continue her work as a police officer for a few more years. But then she had a heart attack right in the middle of dancing the night away in a sequin dress.
Instead of staying home and feeling sorry for herself, Fran heads to the Welsh coast to relax in a seaside village. The Sea Sisters, a local ocean swimming group, adopt her into their flock and challenge her to face her lifelong fear of the sea.
In Llanbryn, she meets Wyn. While he appears to be the local troublemaker, the more she gets to know him, the more she’s drawn to him.
Golden Girl
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
96% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
While jogging near her home on Nantucket, 51-year-old novelist Vivi is killed in a hit-and-run accident. After her death, Vivi is granted the opportunity to watch over her family for one final summer. In addition to watching, she receives three “nudges” to change events on Earth.
Between troubles for her children, the investigation into her death, and a childhood secret wrapped into the final novel she was writing, Vivi must be cautious with her nudges while learning to let her family make decisions without her.
Why This Book Made the List
This book shares the moving message that those we love and lose are never far away. We debated including it on the 50-something list since you see Vivi’s family more often than you see her. However, we decided it’s a really great look at a common theme for many women in their 50s. As your children become fully independent adults, you can try to “nudge” them in what you deem the “right” direction, but they’re also out making their own decisions.
Eliza Starts a Rumor
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
93% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Eliza is a suburban wife secretly struggling with a new, intense fear of leaving her house. She forces herself to go to the store in preparation for a visit from her college-age children. While there, she hears younger moms talking about a new local online forum for women. Eliza has run a similar group for years, but these strangers are calling her original group boring.
In a moment of desperation and weakness, Eliza starts a rumor about a new neighbor on her board to liven it up. But soon, the rumor reaches further than she expected. It’s a great look at the repercussions of fake information.
Fun Fact
We loved learning that the author, Jane L. Rosen, was over 50 when she published her first book.
Same As It Ever Was
Book Summary
At age 57, Julia feels like she’s finally getting the hang of life. Her younger years were challenging and filled with emotional turbulence, but she now leads a much more settled life in a well-off suburb of Chicago. Then her equanimity is disrupted by a chance encounter with an estranged friend, whose reappearance forces Julia to confront her past and the choices that shaped her family.
Meanwhile, her son’s impending wedding and her daughter’s college departure amplify Julia’s internal turmoil and threaten to draw her back into old, destructive patterns.
Consider This Before Reading
This is a very character-driven novel in which the plot plays a lesser role. While some reviewers describe this as a beautifully written novel about complex family dynamics, others say they found it hard to feel sympathetic toward Julia and therefore didn’t enjoy the slower-paced narrative.
The Snow Child
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
99% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
In The Snow Child, you’ll be transported to remote 1920s Alaska. Jack and Mabel are nearing 50 when they decide to move to Alaska. As newcomers to the harsh environment, it is a struggle for them. Between the intense physical labor required and the even more extreme loneliness, they’re not sure they’ve made the right decision with the move.
Then, during the first snowfall of the year, they decide to have some fun and build a child out of snow. In the morning, the snow child is gone, but they see a young girl running through the trees with the items they had used to dress the snow child. Has the lonely couple imagined the child they have always wanted?
What to Expect in This Book
This historical fiction novel also has subtle elements of magical realism and a fairy-tale-like quality. Melissa read it last winter and had trouble putting it down. Magical realism isn’t usually her favorite genre, but she thought this book was phenomenal in both the writing and the storytelling.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Alice is a Harvard cognitive psychology professor and linguistics expert at the height of her career when she notices some unusual forgetfulness. Little by little, more confusion creeps into her life. Alice is fiercely independent, and she’s determined to hide her concerns from her husband and three grown children. But when she receives a devastating diagnosis, early-onset Alzheimer’s, she can’t keep the secret any longer.
Alice struggles to maintain her lifestyle and live her life as fully as possible as her disease progresses. She leaves herself notes and reminders to help her along. Because the novel is told from Alice’s point of view, her narration becomes increasingly unreliable as her disease progresses. This narrative approach does an excellent job of putting the reader in Alice’s mind. You’ll feel frustrated and mourn right alongside her.
Our Thoughts on This Book
Angela’s in-person book club read Still Alice years ago, and it’s stuck with her ever since. The story of Alice slowly, but literally, losing her memory is terrifying and heartbreaking, but also heartfelt. This is a book that will impact you, and one you’ll find yourself thinking about months and even years after you’ve turned the last page.
About the Author
Author Lisa Genova holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Harvard and was inspired to write Still Alice because of her grandmother’s experience with Alzheimer’s. Interviews with those experiencing the early stages of Alzheimer’s have called Genova’s novel “uncannily realistic.”
The Incredible Winston Browne
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
99% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
This historical fiction is set in a quiet Florida town, Moab, in the 1950s. 52-year-old Sheriff Browne’s daily activities usually involve gossip and drama among the town’s quirky residents. But one day, a seemingly mute 10-year-old girl arrives in Moab. At the same time, the Sheriff receives terrible personal news.
The town tries to do the right thing and take the girl, Jessie, in and help her. They have no idea where she came from, but then two suspicious strangers show up looking for her. While Winston tries to get to the bottom of the girl’s origin, he’s also trying to keep his own secret.
Thoughts on This Book
If you love a mixture of mystery, drama, and heart wrapped up in a small-town story, grab this one ASAP.
Where’d You Go, Bernadette
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
94% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Bernadette lives with her husband and her teenage daughter in Seattle, a city where she’s never felt she fits in. She was once a renowned architect, but now spends most of her time at home, hiding from the other moms at her daughter’s elite prep school.
Unlike her Microsoft-employee husband, Elgie, who has fully embraced the granola-eating, public-transport-using, bike-riding culture of 2010s Seattle, Bernadette spends her days at home, relying on a virtual assistant in India for many of her daily tasks. This becomes a real problem when her daughter’s stellar report card earns the family a cruise to Antarctica, and Bernadette is overwhelmed by the planning and preparations. When Bernadette disappears before the trip, her daughter Bee is determined to track her down and unravel a web of secrets.
Much of this book is told in epistolary form, including notes from Bee’s school, email exchanges between Bernadette and her virtual assistant, and catty moms communicating about Bernadette’s eccentricities.
Why This Book Made the List
Bernadette is an older mom compared to the others at Bee’s school, which drives some of her feelings of not fitting in. She started a successful career and then struggled to have a full-term pregnancy. While this is only a small aspect of the book, we like that this contemporary fiction covers a part of life that is now common. More moms are having children later, both by choice and because of medical challenges.
Our Thoughts on This Book
If you’re drawn to quirky and eccentric characters, you might love Bernadette as much as we do! This satirical novel was a Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for “Best Humor” when it was released in 2012, and it’s one of our favorite laugh-out-loud reads. But it’s more than just that… Maria Semple managed to create an enjoyable, witty, smart, and emotional novel!
Angela and her husband both enjoyed the audio version of this book, and this is one of the rare instances where we felt like the movie was almost as good as the book!
Holly
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
The recurring character, Holly, is on her own at the Finders Keepers detective agency. When she gets a call from Penny asking for help finding her missing daughter, Bonnie, Holly is reluctant to take the case. She’s supposed to be on leave because her partner, Pete, is out with COVID, and her mom has just died. But the desperation in Penny’s voice makes Holly take the job.
Just down the street from where Bonnie disappeared, Professors Rodney and Emily Harris are hiding a secret in their basement. They are the picture of bourgeois respectability: married octogenarians, devoted to each other, and semi-retired lifelong academics. But is this savvy, elderly couple really related to Bonnie’s case?
Thoughts About This Book
We aren’t big horror readers ourselves, but this quote from one of our readers has encouraged us to add Holly to our TBRs: “Not always a fan of Stephen King (I don’t so well with scary), but he is a brilliant writer and I enjoyed how he tied in the Mr. Mercedes books with this one.”
The Secret of Snow
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
92% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Southern Californian meteorologist Sonny is used to weather that matches her name. She’s 50 years old and has just received shocking news at work. The station is replacing her with an AI-generated meteorologist. They claim it’s perfect because AI “will never age, gain weight, or renegotiate its contract.”
Her only job offer is in a much different environment, her cold northern Michigan hometown. Sonny has quite a rough return amid the lake-effect snow, the dark winter, a new boss, and reuniting with her frenemy from school. Beyond that, she has to deal with feelings she left behind to avoid, like the relationship with her mother and the death of her snow-loving sister.
To snap herself out of feeling bad about the changes in her life, Sonny decides to jump into all things winter. From skiing and sledding to ice fishing and sculptures, she’s ready to embrace it all.
Thoughts on This Book
If you live somewhere hot, this dose of Christmas/Winter in July might be the perfect read to cool you down! It’s contemporary fiction with a side of romance, so it’s a perfect poolside pick despite the winter theme.
I Almost Forgot About You
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
94% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Dr. Georgia Young is feeling stuck despite having a seemingly wonderful life. She has close friends, family, and even a great career. But the restless feeling won’t go away.
As she approaches her 55th birthday, she decides to take control of her happiness and make some major life changes. From quitting her job as an optometrist to moving to a new home, her journey is a great reminder to become the person you want to be.
About the Author
Author Terry McMillan has spent her career writing characters in her own age range, including books turned into popular movies like Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back.
Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
92% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Fifty-three-year-old Maggie is described as on the verge of a nervous breakthrough. Although she’s perpetually anxious about semi-reasonable things like identity theft and airbag recalls, she’s also happily married with two mostly happy kids.
Then, the one thing she had never wasted time fearing happens when her husband, Adam, leaves her. It’s only then that she realizes she’s been a shell of herself since her 30s, spending all her time caring for others.
While it would be understandable if she wallowed about her situation, she decides to take a solo trip to Rome instead. It was already planned as a trip with Adam, so instead of canceling, she decided to go anyway. This marks the beginning of a more intentional rebuilding of all aspects of her life.
Perfect When You Need a Quick Read
If you need a quick read and enjoy contemporary fiction with a side of midlife romance, this book is only 238 pages!
Husbands and Other Sharp Objects
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
As she’s planning her daughter’s wedding, Marcy is also trying to finalize her divorce after a long marriage. She’s been separated long enough to have a new boyfriend who’s pushing for a commitment, and now her ex-husband, Harvey, wants to get back together, too.
Marcy’s too busy with the wedding to deal with her own man-problems. It turns out weddings bring out the worst in everyone. And it doesn’t help that her daughter’s new in-laws keep stealing items everywhere they go!
As Marcy realizes that it might be impossible to keep everyone happy, she knows it’s time to make the hard choice between old and new.
Another Title to Consider
We’ve both read this book and loved the storyline of planning her daughter’s wedding. Some of you are probably familiar with how hectic that can be!
While writing this description, we were shocked to learn that there is another book, Lift and Separate, that covers Marcy’s split from Harvey after he cheats on her with a 21-year-old. Marcy is 56 in that book, so it still fits the 50-something theme if you’d like to start with it, but Husbands and Other Sharp Objects reads just as well as a stand-alone.
Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman
Book Summary
In this memoir, Brooke Shields reflects on her lifetime spent in the public eye. From her early years as a child actor and model, she became accustomed to having her every feature scrutinized and judged.
Aging in the public eye is especially difficult, but at 59, Shields reveals that she feels more comfortable and confident in her skin than she did a decade earlier. She paints an optimistic picture of women reclaiming agency and power and embracing the signs of aging while enjoying the prime of their lives.
She shares her own experiences with humor and humility, but also dives into research and reporting to take aim at systematic factors contributing to age-related bias.
Why This Book Made the List
This memoir is described as smart, witty, relatable, unapologetic, and validating… and we’re here for it.
In an interview, Shields said she wrote this memoir because when she entered her mid-fifties, she began to feel more confident and proud, and she assumed that others would see her the same way she saw herself. Instead, she experienced others treating her as devalued. After speaking to other women, she realized how pervasive this problem was, and she felt compelled to address it.
The Same Bright Stars
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
90% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Fifty-two-year-old Jack has been responsible for his family’s Rehoboth Beach restaurant, Schmidt’s, since his father died, but despite the picturesque location, he can’t remember the last time he has relaxed on the beach for even a moment.
The DelDine group has been purchasing similar eateries along the coast, and Jack is tempted by their offer. It could give him a chance to have a personal life for the first time. But, can he trust the claims that they would keep the Schmidts’ staff and retain the family’s legacy in town?
What to Expect in This Book
This slice-of-life character-driven story is told from Jack’s perspective in both the present timeline, when he is 52, and the past.
The Memory of Love
Book Summary
In New Zealand, Marion is in her early 50s and has spent the last 15 years living a quiet life on the coast. She’s packed away her past memories until a chance meeting with a young boy named Ika brings her history back to life.
As she individually examines images of her grandfather, mother, brother, and lover, she tries to find a new order and memories. As she strives to find forgiveness for her younger self, she also tries to save Ika from his own tragic childhood.
Book Summary
Thirty years ago, Juliet worked as an au pair in Paris, and when she returned home, she left a piece of her heart behind. Now, at 50 years old, separated from her husband, and with her children out on their own, Juliet has decided it’s time to reclaim the piece of her heart that she left in Paris all those years before.
She rents an attic apartment near Notre Dame, puts on her red lipstick, and feels the memories come flooding back. Juliet has been keeping a secret for more than two decades, and she knows she won’t be able to move forward without first looking back. The next 30 days in Paris might just change everything.
Dante & Jazz Mystery Series
Book Summary
Dante O’Donnell wasted his younger years dreaming of stardom and picking the wrong men. Now in his 50s, he’s working as a concierge for a vacation rental company in Palm Springs.
When he discovers a dead body floating in the pool at one of the rentals, he knows he’s in trouble. Not because he did it, but because he was previously suspected of murdering his husband, making him an obvious suspect.
In order to clear his name, he’ll have to team up with the cop turned PI who nearly arrested him the last time around. Jazz had her career derailed by racism, her PI business is struggling, and she’s fighting for custody of her kid. She needs Dante just as much as he needs her. If they can solve the murder, they will both be able to save themselves from personal and professional disaster.
About the Series
With three Dante & Jazz mysteries to date, readers are already hoping for more.
The Beekeeper’s Cottage
Book Summary
Grace is a fifty-something beekeeper facing two difficult battles. She’s thrown her husband out for cheating, but now a developer is knocking on her door trying to take over her beautiful garden and home. She will do anything she can to save her sanctuary.
While she’s telling her friend all her problems at the flower farm next door, a visitor named Amos offers to help. He’ll help turn her home into an income-generating guest house in exchange for beekeeping lessons. As they work together, Grace feels like she’d like to stay in Hope’s Corner forever, but she also fears he’s hiding something from his past.
More About This Book
Readers say you’ll be pulled into the beautiful setting first, then your hearts will be warmed by the characters’ kindness in this perfectly sweet read.
While this book is set in the same village as The House at Hope Corner and has some overlapping characters, readers say each book works as a stand-alone, and they are not listed as a series.
The Bette Davis Club
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Margo is down on her luck. She’s spent decades lusting after a man she couldn’t have, drinks too much, and is now running out of money in her 50s. However, when her niece flees town on her wedding day, Margo is presented with a solution to her cash flow situation. Her sister offers her $50,000 to track down the missing bride.
The book follows her cross-country trip in a borrowed 1955 red MG in hot pursuit of her niece. She’s not alone. Her niece’s jilted and crabby fiancé is by her side.
Consider This Before Reading
This one is good for fans of wacky characters and those okay with some unrealistic situations and solutions along the way – think screwball comedy. As long as you don’t expect all the characters to make logical decisions all the time, it’s a fun and funny read.
The author sadly passed away between self-publishing this book and its widespread republishing, but her daughter says it is an homage to her mom’s love of classic movies like It Happened One Night.
Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
In this memoir, famed New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast brings her signature wit to the topic of caring for aging parents while in your mid-50s.
For years, Roz had employed denial, avoidance, and distraction to deal with the challenges that arose with her elderly parents. But when she was in her mid-fifties, and they were in their nineties, she was forced to step into the role of the adult child parenting her parents.
Although the format of this cartoon-style memoir is very unique, the themes are universal: adult children accepting a parental role; aging and unstable parents leaving a family home; managing logistics; and hiring strangers to provide the most personal care.
Thoughts on This Book
It’s an intimate portrait of an only child coping as best she can to help her parents at the end of their lives.
Additionally, this memoir also paints a portrait of her family’s Jewish immigrant roots and her parents’ pursuit of the American dream.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
89% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Five sorority sisters, now in their 50s, have received a mysterious invite to an all-expenses-paid vacation to a Compass Key resort. The invitation is from their beloved house mother, who has a significant surprise to share. And that surprise comes with a major decision that will require each woman to overcome her past.
About the Series
This book is the first in a series, introducing each of the characters. You’ll learn about their lives at home, along with their relationships with each other.
However, reviewers suggest that the book is not a stand-alone, and you’ll want to continue the series to get a real resolution. There are seven books in the series, all available from Kindle Unlimited as of June 2026.
Bring on the Blessings
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
90% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
On Bernadine’s 52nd birthday, she caught her husband cheating on her with his secretary. Rather than getting angry, she got revenge. She hired a cutthroat attorney and ended up with $275 million in the divorce.
Bernadine was raised in the church with the understanding that to whom much is given, much is expected. So, with her newfound fortune, she asks God to send her a purpose. That purpose turns out to be a small town in Kansas.
The town of Henry Adams is one of the last surviving townships founded by freed slaves after the Civil War. Mayor Trent July had run out of options to save his town from debt, so he put it up for sale… and Bernadine bought it.
Trent is excited about Bernadine’s vision for Henry Adams, but not everyone feels the same way.
Genre Notes
This book is designated as Christian Fiction, and reviewers describe it as a feel-good book with Hallmark movie vibes.
The Paper Palace
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
91% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Elle has been to her family’s summer home, The Paper Palace, every year of her life. However, her 50th summer is different. Like a teenager, she crept out the back door to meet her oldest friend Jonas. He was her childhood love, but a tragic event ripped them apart and changed the course of their lives.
Elle and Jonas are both married to other people now, but they sleep with each other for the first time that night. Over the next 24 hours, Elle must decide if she will remain with the husband she truly loves, Peter, or if Jonas has always been her destiny. As she struggles with her decision, you’ll read a recounting of her life to see how she got to this situation and the circumstances that make her who she is.
Consider This Before Reading
Reviews say this book is complicated and messy, but also beautifully written. It contains flawed characters that aren’t necessarily likable, although many readers end up liking them as they learn more about them. It’s a good look at how things that happen in childhood follow you throughout your whole life, even after growing up and having your own kids.
HEADS UP: This book covers challenging topics beyond infidelity, including rape, incest, and abuse of children. It’s a heavy read overall, so only pick it up if you’re in the right headspace.
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Book Lists By Character Age
Links to our book recommendations for all twelve of the Lifetime of Reading challenge prompts can be found below:
- Books With Characters in Their 50s
- Intergenerational Novels: Books that Connect Generations
- Books With Characters in Their 40s
- Books With Characters In Their 30s
- Books with Characters in Their 20s
- Books with Teenage Main Characters
- Books Spanning a Character’s Lifetime
- Books with a Child Protagonist (Bildungsroman Novels)
- Books With Characters in Their 90s and 100s
- Books With Characters in Their 80s
- Books With Characters in Their 70s
- Books With Characters in Their 60s
Other Books to Consider
If you are specifically interested in reading books about fifty-somethings that are set in a different part of the world, we recommend taking a look at our Book Voyage reading lists, which are organized by region. Additionally, if you’re looking for a book that provides a historical perspective, our Decades Challenge reading lists, which cover the 1910s through the present, are a great place to start!
If you have a suggestion for a book that you think would be a great addition to this list, please fill out this form.
What does it mean to be 50-something in today’s society?
Men in their 50s are often viewed as being in the prime of their lives – experienced, mature, and competent. On the other hand, despite having gained the same experience and maturity, women often feel invisible after age 50. Forbes cites research that shows “as men age, they are viewed as more valuable and competent in the workplace.” Conversely, the same research shows that “women lose their credibility with every new wrinkle.”
Novelist and screenwriter Ayelet Waldman spoke about her impending 50th birthday in a 2015 interview. She explained: “I have a big personality, and I have a certain level of professional competence, and I’m used to being taken seriously professionally. And suddenly, it’s like I just vanished from the room. And I have to yell so much louder to be seen. I just want to walk down the street and have someone notice that I exist.”
But this perceived invisibility comes with some perks, as an article in Psychology Today points out. “First, let’s be clear: quite a number of these women are not issuing a lament but a proclamation of relief.” With fewer people paying attention, many women actually feel a sense of freedom. Fewer eyes on them means less fear of judgment. The Atlantic explains, “As women become older, they entertain a wider set of choices about when and how they are seen.”
Reading Trends in Middle-Aged Fiction
This phenomenon of the invisibility of women in their 50s is particularly fascinating to examine when it comes to books. According to The Guardian, women, particularly those over 50, “have always made up a disproportionate amount of readers.” A 2016 survey found that women made up 75% of its most active digital readers, while 77% of those active readers were age 45 or older.
Despite accounting for the largest market share of avid readers, it’s quite challenging to find books about middle-aged women in their 50s. Throughout the Lifetime of Reading Challenge, we’ve researched books with protagonists in each decade of life. Compiling our list of recommended books with main characters in their 50s proved considerably harder than finding novels about older main characters of the septuagenarian and octogenarian sets. And even when books do feature protagonists over 50, The Guardian points out that some book publishers are very reluctant to put older women on the cover.
I love your posts! I can’t agree more about Less! What a bore!
We both tried so hard to love or even like that one because it contains so many things we love, and it just wasn’t doing anything for us. 🙁
Our book club read The Bette Davis Club. It was a fun, screwball comedy. We enjoyed it.
I personally appreciate when you provide that information. I do not care to read books that are heavily religious whether it is Christian or any other religion.
Hi, let me start by saying that I have very much enjoyed being part of this group for the past two years. You ladies do an enormous amount of work preparing lists and descriptions each month, and it is greatly appreciated. There are so many great books I probably never would have discovered so thank you. That is why it makes it difficult to share a comment about something that didn’t sit well with me. In your recommendation for Dearly Beloved from June, and Bring on the Blessings (July) there is a “disclaimer” about Christianity. A lot of your disclaimers have to do with abuse, profanity etc, so I was taken back to see this disclaimer. You offer so many book choices with different genres, beliefs, situations and lifestyles that I personally don’t see any reason why books with a Christian undertone would need a warning label. As a Christian, I enjoy reading about different life experiences and perspectives and was disappointed to see that the Christian nature of a book would be listed as a possible deterrent to the book being a reading choice. Thank you for including these choices and I hope that people will overlook the impression given, that Christian faith books may want to be avoided, even though they were included.
Hi!
We appreciate your comment because we value everyone’s feedback. We want to clarify that notes about the content of a book in the “Book Girls Say” section of a description does not mean it’s a “disclaimer” or something negative that we are trying to warn people about. Rather, we use that section to provide additional context and help match the right readers with the right books. Sometimes that is the existence of difficult themes, but often it’s other details like notes on the writing style, specific things we personally liked or disliked, or neutral facts about the genre or theme. For example, if a book is classified as a thriller, but we know it’s more of a mystery with no gore, we’ll note that.
When we are researching books to include on our lists, we spend a lot of time reading reviews and taking note of commonly asked questions. In the case of both of the books you mentioned, we saw many questions asked about the religious content. So we wanted to address those questions by noting that we think – like you – that the books can be enjoyed by everyone.
Our hope is that adding these context notes will encourage more people (not fewer) to pick up these two books. Sometimes people see the book genre is Christian Fiction on Goodreads and automatically avoid those books. We’re hoping our Book Girls Say section leads more people to give those two titles a chance. Hope that helps clarify where we were coming from, we appreciate you reading with us!