After reading this provocative debut by Jane Campbell about the sensual world of older women, we will truly understand whoever invented the expression "old age is just a number."
Far from falling into stereotypes of old age, the protagonists – so often relegated to nursing homes or family homes simply for being over seventy – want to continue having control of their homes and don't let others control their lives.
Susan discovers she is sexually attracted to her caregiver in the hospital; after becoming a widow, Linda decides to look for the man with whom she had a passionate relationship during a conference; Martha, isolated in an apartment during the pandemic, accepts the government's offer to enjoy the company of a well-behaved robot that shamelessly deceives her; the grandmother who travels by train to meet her granddaughter decides to marry the only passenger in the carriage so she doesn't have to take care of her invalid and overbearing sister; The woman who brushes her son's cat recalls, in the animal's movements, her own sexual experiences and thinks that her daughter-in-law will end up throwing them out on the street, her and the Siamese cat…
Written in a challenging way, full of timeless wisdom, here is a fantastic lesson against the prejudice and misconceptions that surround the lives of older women.
