Book Recommendation — How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley

How to Age Disgracefully

By Clare Pooley

I knew I couldn’t pass up a title like this. 

It seems books about rule-breaking seniors are having a moment. From the The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared to The Little Old Lady Who Broke All The Rules and the Thursday Murder Club series, those with life experience are grabbing the spotlight. 

Clearly, old or young, it’s never too late to start again — which is the driving spirit of How to Age Disgracefully. 

Set around west London, and at a senior drop-in center, this delight of a novel introduces us to a cluster of troublesome characters. Art is a failed actor who has a penchant for collecting things that don’t belong to him. Daphne is a force of nature, who is working hard to keep her past in the past. And Ruby is never without her knitting needles and her desire to take revenge through yarn. 

Enter Lydia, the newly hired senior activity coordinator. She is trying to establish a simple get-together three times a week for what she expects to be gentle, tea-fuelled card games. Her expectations couldn’t be further from reality.

When the city council threatens to shut down the senior center and the adjacent daycare, this collection of unlikely friends comes together to demonstrate precisely How to Age Disgracefully. 

This is a novel filled with empathy and laughter. Each chapter introduces us to a new aspect of a character, driving the story forward in unpredictable and delightful ways. 

If you’re looking for a humorous book filled with characters who don’t adhere to society’s expectations of getting older, consider How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley. 

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