Wednesday, December 14, 2022

A wealth of aging women characters from Sharon L. Dean

 

HALLIE EPHRON: Starting with my first standalone, I've reveled in creating older (much older) female characters who defy stereotype. There's Mrs. Bindel in NEVER TELL A LIE; in CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR there's an elderly woman who turns out to be a criminal. Good or bad, they're sharp and insightful and, I hope, veering in the opposite direction of caricature.

So I feel as if I've met a soul sister in Sharon L. Dean whose new book, SIX OLD WOMEN AND OTHER STORIES, is peopled by genuinely old and genuinely realistic women.

Today I'm happy to welcome Sharon to Jungle Red and eager to share what she has to say about the characters that inspire her writing.

SHARON L. DEAN: Emma Donoghue wrote ROOM from the point of view of a five-year-old boy imprisoned with his mother for his entire life in a single room. William Faulkner wrote a masterful section of THE SOUND AND THE FURY from the point of view of a thirty-three-year-old man with the mind of a three-year-old. In NEVER LET ME GO, Kazuo Ishiguro found the voice of a young woman looking back on the life she’d lived as a clone, prepared now to donate her organs and die.

Different ages; in two cases different genders from the authors. I’m awed at their skill and the power of their imaginations.

Unlike them, I’m trapped by age and gender. When I was teaching at a small university, I might have used the point of view of a student, but when I began writing my first mystery series, I created Susan Warner, a retired English professor. I placed her in environments I know: on a bike ride along Mississippi’s Natchez Trace; at an academic conference on The Isles of Shoals; in a small town modeled on the one where I lived.

For the younger Deborah Strong, the protagonist of my second mystery series, I looked through my daughter’s high school yearbook and found a photo of a teenager who gave me the image for Deborah. I opened The Barn with Deborah as a teenager, then aged her as I moved her into familiar worlds: a library like the one where I had my first job; a college campus based on the university I attended; a cove in Maine where I gathered with friends from my university days.

Deborah is a generic adult age, living in environments familiar to me.

Now I find myself moving from generic to geriatric. My collection SIX OLD WOMEN AND OTHER STORIES includes six ninety-three-year-olds living together on an island in Lake Winnipesaukee, an old woman looking back at an event that happened when she was a teenager at a resort on Newfound Lake, and an old man and an old woman living as recluses in a small New Hampshire town.

In these stories, I imagined characters older than I am. They have the bodies of the aged: dowager’s humps, jiggly arms, veined legs, faces invaded by wrinkles, wiry hair, thick waists hidden by house dresses or lounge suits. A dermatologist once called my moles “weeds in the garden of life.” I wanted to call them “perennial flowers.”

My elderly characters are like those flowers. Even at ninety, they bloom. They’ve lived and they continue to live, at least some of them do.

I wonder if I’m haunted––by memories of my grandmother who spent her last days in a care facility where nurses tied back her hair with pink yarn; my eighty-pound mother, her back bent from scoliosis; the old man in my neighborhood, his body an L-shape. Whatever it is, something has been prompting me to write what has been called “geezer lit.”

Perhaps I’m haunted by the future as I hope that my last exit will be as adventurous as the ones I create for my characters.

Do you have any preference for the age of the characters you create or the ones you like to read about?

ABOUT SIX OLD WOMAN AND OTHER STORIES
Six old women living on an isolated island in Lake Winnipesaukee, teenagers vacationing on Newfound Lake in 1959, paragliders and skiers on Cannon Mountain, an old woman in a house covered in gypsy moths, a man living off the grid in a shack he built himself. The characters in these stories all keep secrets. They are as tough and rugged as New Hampshire’s iconic Old Man in the Mountain. And like The Old Man who fell in 2003, their pasts survive only in memory. Sometimes that’s a good thing.

SHARON L. DEAN Sharon L. Dean grew up in Massachusetts where she was immersed in the literature of New England. She earned undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of New Hampshire, a state she lived and taught in before moving to Oregon. Although she has given up writing scholarly books that require footnotes, she incorporates much of her academic research as background in her mysteries. She is the author of three Susan Warner mysteries and of a literary novel titled Leaving Freedom. Her Deborah Strong mysteries include The Barn, The Wicked Bible, and Calderwood Cove. Dean continues to write about New England while she is discovering the beauty of the West.

55 comments:

  1. I like to read about a variety of characters. And yes, that can be in one book (variety of ages in the cast of characters) and also a variety in the ages and circumstances in the main characters I follow in various books. Not only does variety make things more fun for me, but it reflects the reality of life. Only in school are we around a majority of people are exact age all the time. No where else will you find that artificial age structure.

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    1. That's a really good point, Mark, about school. I never thought of it that way.

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    2. Great observation, Mark! And I remember what was so great about my first job was meeting and getting to know older people who'd been doing for decades what I was struggling with. Perspective!

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    3. Why I miss teaching and raising kids--even teenagers. At least I have grandchildren nearby to keep my network varied.

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    4. Excellent post, Sharon. Like your books! Unblinking, as you spotlight important themes and concerns faced by all--especially those who live long. Caring, meh, betrayal. And yet oddly reassuring. If we (story characters) can face stark truth at any age, can hope, dream and remember but also lean into what strength we do have, we're the better for it.
      (P.S. My dermatologist calls safe moles and keratoses "wisdom spots.")

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  2. Congratulations on your new book, Sharon . . . .
    I have no particular preference for the ages of the characters I read about; young, old, or somewhere in between, I only wish for them to be authentic, to be characters brought to life by their stories.

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    1. Authenticity - that's definitely the key. So much is talked about today about making characters who are NOT like (race, gender, sexuality...) the author believable, the same is true for writing characters who are younger or older.

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  3. Congrats on your new book. I agree with Joan, the characters should be authentic to their age.

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  4. SHARON: Congratulations on your new book!
    Like others, I do like reading a wide range of characters. Each unique voice (and age) adds a different POV and flavour to the story I am reading.

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  5. Sharon, congratulations on your new book.
    I agree with Joan and Dru. I usually don't know the ages of the main characters when I open a book. It's the characters themselves who draw you into their stories.

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  6. I love that you write all ages, including old ones, Sharon. Life is full of all of us - why not includes all of us?

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    1. I'd love to try a five-year-old. I'm a sucker for little kids.

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    2. I have a kickass little five year old in my Cozy Capers Book Group series. Cokie is popular with readers!

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  7. Oh, goodness, Sharon, I would buy this book just on its title. I love stories with older characters - so much to work with. Memories, perspective, complications, changing roles and friendships. Good for you!

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    1. I think older characters are having their moment in the sun right now.

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    2. I agree--geezer lit is in! I'm glad you like the title, anonymous.

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  8. I'm with Joan and Dru -- any and all ages work for me, as long as the writing brings the characters to life authentically on the page. Sharon: You are a new-to-me author, so I'm off to find you on my Kindle. I love the title of your newest book. Congrats!

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    1. Thanks so much. Always great to find a new reader.

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  9. welcome Sharon! Readers' favorite character in my Key West series is 80-something Miss Gloria. So I think older characters are having their day:)

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    1. LOVE Miss Gloria - and I just finished reading the newest Thursday Murder Club book which is loaded with *wonderful* older characters.

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    2. Now we should discuss why old folks are in!

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  10. SHARON: Congratulations on your new book. It does not matter to me as a reader how old the characters are.

    When I was born 50+ years ago, most of the people in my family had been born when Queen Victoria was still on the throne! So I am accustomed to being around "old" people. I can only imagine our grandchildren saying "My grandparents were born when Queen Elizabeth II was still on the throne.

    The characters have to be authentic. Some of my favorite books have older characters like Mauriice Blanche, Frankie Dobbs, Lady Rowan and Lord Julian from Maisie Dobbs. I read Helene Tursten's An Elderly Lady....mystery series. I loved Jonas Jonasson's THE 100 YEAR OLD MAN.... And Miss Marple from Agatha Christie's mysteries!

    Diana

    Diana

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    1. Thanks for the recommendations, Diana

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    2. I especially love Miss Marple as portrayed on Masterpiece Mystery (I think).

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  11. Congratulations on the new book. I love old characters. As someone mentioned above there is so much to work with -- gains and losses, wisdom and regret, etc. I'm glad that older characters are getting a lot of page time.

    That said, I like characters of all ages. Alan Bradley does a delightful job with 10, 11 year old Flavia de Luce.

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    1. I'll have to check out Flavia--same age as my grandson.

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    2. From Gillian— I agree Flavia is wonderful!

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  12. Congratulations on your new release. I actually just purchased the book, based on your bio and the title. I want older adults to be represented as accurately and uniquely different as they truly are. As a gerontological clinical nurse specialist I cringe at the term “geezer lit” and have battled stereotyping older adults through my entire career.

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  13. I love older characters, younger characters--well-drawn, believable characters. Everyone has a story to tell--perhaps even more so when you've lived longer than most everyone else around you.

    I'll be looking for your work, Sharon--congratulations on the new book!

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    1. Flora's coment reminds me of the adage: Every character is the hero of their own story

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    2. Unfortunately characters at the age extremes young and old are most often portrayed as stereotypes.

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  14. Thought provoking discussion this morning, Sharon. Why not write about/read about characters with differences from our own? As Mark said, only in school are we with mostly only those our own age.

    I've been in a book club where one member refused to read anything that was outside her own narrow ideal of character: age, gender, socio-economic status. She complained bitterly about any choice that didn't fit that window. However, the book club I have so enjoyed now for nearly 15 years has no such crabby person in it. In fact, the men in the group are just as likely to choose--and enjoy--a book with a female protagonist as they are any other, and vice versa for the women. We've all read stories we would not necessarily have chosen on our own.

    I do like reading older characters, because they bring such rich life experiences to the table. Not unlike many of us!

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    1. "The Crabby Book Group" - could be a murder mystery...

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    2. LOL! I'd totally write that one. The crabby person was our neighbor, too.

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    3. Great title for a book club. Mine is called LitWits and it's been going for 30 years, men and women both.

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  15. I have to give a shout out to my favorite older character - Lucy Burdett's Miss Gloria. I love that she is so positive about life and never dwells on her age. She has friends, stays active, and is interested in life. A true role model.

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  16. Count me as another one who enjoys reading about characters of a certain age! I think they are simply more interesting with a lot more stories to tell. Age of a character isn't as important as the story itself.

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  17. Hello Sharon from the beautiful Oregon coast! We are having a mini vaycay in Manzanita. I love reading from different points of view, and as one fast approaching geezer-hood, I think I will enjoy your stories. One of my favorite books this year was The Sign for Home by Blair Fell (thanks JRW), partly written from the perspective of a deaf-blind young man.

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    1. This is Gillian, I guess I’m anonymous on my phone

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  18. Maybe because I'm facing down old age myself, I especially enjoy older characters in books. Most recently, Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark about a life long friendship. And the main character in The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections.

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  19. Hi Sharon! Congratulations on your latest book. If the book is well written, the ages of the main characters can be anything. I don't like stereotypes and those can affect any age. Perhaps the reason for the increase in so-called geezer lit is we baby boomers are knock knock knocking on heaven's door.

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  20. Congratulations on your latest release. I enjoy all age characters in the books I read, but as I age, I find I'm tending to more mature (in years if not mental outlook) protagonists who have some grist in their mills!

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  21. I'm fascinated with older characters. They help me become more understanding of those in real life.

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    1. The inclusion of a beloved mother who is aging, needing care from her children, and with complications from dementia in "Leaving Freedom" is just one small part of a larger story, but beautiful and thought-provoking.

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  22. This sounds fabulous, Sharon. I have no preference in the age of my characters. I just want them to be interesting - sounds like you nailed it. Can't wait to read Six Old Women.

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  23. Congratulations, Sharon! It sounds wonderful. I will happily read characters of any age--some of my favorite older characters are Lucy's Miss Gloria and the protagonists of Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club books.

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    1. You make me want to ask another question: why do we love murder mysteries?

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  24. Oh,this is...lovely. SO thoughtful and necessary. What a brilliant brilliant idea! Aww. ANd hey, who cares about how old a character is? It's getting inside their heads that's fun.

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    1. Thanks. I like to say, "You can get old or you can get dead!"

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  25. Congratulations, Sharon! Old women, and old men, often disappear from public attention, so I admire your focus.

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  26. I love the term, "geezer lit." A main character in my most recent book is 82, and she has a great past, present, and future! So much rich material to draw from. Congratulations on the new book!

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