For a change of pace, check out The Second Half: 40 Women Reveal Life After Fifty by Ellen Warner]. It is a beautiful, fascinating book of photographs/interviews with forty very different women – all interviews done well after the age of 50.
Some of the women interviewed grew up in poverty. Others came from wealthy families. These women were resistance fighters, prisoners of war, writers, cooks, actresses, artists and housewives. Most have faced hardships – whether it be health scares, losses in love or repression of some sort. There are many different cultures represented as well, which was fascinating.
I loved reading these women’s stories and seeing their photographs. One of my favorite quotes was from Leslie Caron who said, “Experience makes everything easier, in that you don’t let people walk all over you.” In the forward, Erica Jong talks about ‘celebrating women for not wrinkles, but laugh lines.’ This would make a wonderful Mother’s Day gift for grandmas who love to read. It was also just a really enjoyable record of how different women look backwards/forwards at their lives. The photos were terrific as well!
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