The Joy of Writing Older Characters

Jennifer Bohnet

 

Jennifer says "I write the kind of stories I enjoy reading - escapist, uplifting and feel good - and several of my books feature mature characters.

Three of my heroines from different books, Josette in ‘Villa of Sun and Secrets’, Gabriella in ‘Summer on the French Riviera’ and Mattie in ‘High Tides and Summer Skies’ are all in their seventies. All have lived different lives but all three are strong women, although Mattie takes a little longer to realise how strong she is!

I love it when my characters differences make themself known to me as I’m writing. For instance Josette who has lived a somewhat wandering bohemian life as a photographer thinks nothing of having a snowball fight with an unknown man early one morning in a wintery Antibes. For Mattie, who has lived a much more restricted life, that is something she would never ever dream of doing, although she does change as her story unfolds. Gabriella is a French woman who’s determined to do what it takes to mend her fractured family.

I thought it would be fun to pretend they were all friends, sit them down at a table in one of the many pavement cafes somewhere on the Côte d’Azur with a bottle of rosé and eavesdrop on them chatting about how it feels to be ‘mature’ in todays world:"

 

Josette, in charge of the wine as usual, poured them each a glass of rosé and they all said ‘Santé’ before taking a sip.

‘It’s so good to be back down here again,’ Mattie said. ‘The weather in Devon has been atrocious this winter. Just seeing blue skies and the sun is such a tonic.

‘Been colder than usual down here,’ Josette said. ‘But it’s lovely now. How long are you here for this time Mattie?’

‘A few months I think. I know Henri wants to move back permanently,’ Mattie shrugged. ‘I love the idea but,’

‘Do it. You won’t regret it,’ Gabriella said. ‘Moving back was the best thing I did. At our age you have to grab at every bit of life you can.’

‘True,’ Josette said. ‘We still have lots of opportunities to see things, see places. Not like our grandparents or even our parents. Looking at photos of them at our age now, they seem ancient, old before their time. The clothes they’re wearing, all dark colours and functional, whereas we can wear anything we like. Nobody gives a damn. I’m so glad I lived through the sixties. Those years changed a lot of things.’

‘They say if you can remember the sixties you weren’t there,’ Gabriella said. ‘I remember them as a difficult time down here for me but I’m guessing you enjoyed them more than I did,’ Gabriella looked at Josette who nodded.

‘Paris was great in that era. I was footloose and fancy free and made the most of it. And you know what? Inside here,’ she tapped her head. ’I don’t feel any older. I’m still up for fun and a good time. Have to admit it I have to space myself these days, haven’t quite got the energy I used to have. But Walt Disney had it right when he said, Growing old is mandatory, but growing up is optional. So my motto these days girls is, As soon as you feel too old to do a thing, do it.’

‘You can say that, you haven’t got my dodgy knee,’ Mattie said laughing. ‘But I do agree.’

‘I prefer getting older to the alternative,’ Gabriella said. ‘But one thing that really bugs me is the way society writes people off once, women in particular, get to a certain age. It’s not that we become invisible, we’re just ignored. It’s as if we haven’t got anything left to give. Like you Josie, inside I don’t feel any older than I did years ago but it’s assumed that I won’t want to go skiing, or white water rafting because that’s something young people do. Makes me so cross.’

‘Do you really want to do those things?’ Mattie asked. ‘The only thing worse that I can think of is bungy jumping.’

Josette and Gabriella laughed. ‘Oh Mattie, you need to move down here and we can take you in hand.’

‘I know what I would like to do,’ Mattie said. ‘I’d like to go horse riding in the Camargue.’

‘I’m up for that. How about you Gabriella?’

Gabriella nodded. ‘Yeah, why not.’

‘Right. The three of us can do that this summer,’ Josette said. ’And here’s a new maxim for life for the three of us.

 

‘Things to remove at the end of the day: your bra, your makeup, toxic people, and importantly, limiting beliefs.’ 

© Jennifer Bohnet 2024

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You can find out more about Jennifer and her books on her website

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