Matron Literature

I thought I was familiar with all genres but “matron literature” was a new one on me. I wasn’t sure I liked the terminology but I decided to check it out anyway.

Turns out it’s an offshoot of chick lit. Sometimes it’s referred to as “hen lit,” “gray lit” or even “hag lit.” Ugh!
The stories focus on older female protagonists. I’ve noticed that heroines in romance novels have been getting older, but I never suspected they now had their own genre. Go figure.

It appears we women of a certain age need characters we can identify with. Now I have never had a problem perceiving myself as the thirty-something heroine or even the twenty-something heroine. I know what it’s like to walk in their shoes and in my fantasies I’d prefer to be rescued by the virile alpha stud rather than a bald, paunchy old relic. It’s supposed to be a fantasy right? We read romantic fiction to escape reality. But okay I thought I’d check it out and see what I’ve been missing.

A search on Amazon.com brought up “The Hot Flash Club,” by Nancy Thayer, which Publishers Weekly calls “chick lit for the AARP crowd.” Also “Loop Group” by Larry McMurtry, and “The Red Hat Club” by Haywood Smith.
At sixty going on thirty, I’m not sure I’m ready for “hag lit” but if I can find large print editions maybe I’ll give them a read.

BTW – Today’s Camp Swampy Roach Count is one sighting.