Middle-age
The awkwardness of love in middle age: You Are Here, by David Nicholls, reviewed
A man and woman, both casualties of failed marriages, are attracted to one another on a walking holiday, but are strangely overcome by shyness
The horror of finding oneself ‘young-old’
‘I used to run upstairs all the time,’ sixtysomething Marcus Berkmann recalls wistfully, as, midway through life’s journey, he wakes to find himself in a dark wood
An independent observer: Whereabouts, by Jhumpa Lahiri, reviewed
After falling in love with Italy as a young woman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri broke with English and…
Help over the hump
Losing our way in life’s trackless forest, whither should we turn for solace and advice? Wisdom used to be the…
Confessions of a Saga lout
Baby boomers like me aren’t giving up irresponsible hedonism as we age. We’re just getting worse at it
Erica Jong's middle-aged dread
Who’d get old? Bits fall off, your loved ones start dropping like flies and, perhaps worst of all, the only…
Time is of the essence in Helen Simpson’s Cockfosters
Helen Simpson is not a prolific writer; six slim collections of short stories in 25 years, each timed quinquennially with…
I went looking for a used car – and found my inner boy racer
A bit late, I know, to put in a bid for Jeremy Clarkson’s old job. But I think I might…
My new affair is thrilling, expensive — and might just break my neck
I have fallen in love with an unsuitable male. My wife isn’t totally happy about this relationship because she recognises…
These days, when men wolf-whistle at me, I thank them
Incredible as it seems to me now, there was a time when a wolf whistle was annoying. A man would…
Why the Ancient Greeks didn’t have middle-aged spread
A drug has been invented to halt what is known as middle-aged spread. But it would be so much better…
You’re never too old, they say. But I am
For my 49th birthday treat, I went to see Shakespeare in Love at the Noël Coward theatre in London. Expensive…
