Hilary Boyd Quote

Sixty is heaven," she [bohemian Aunt Norma] told Jeanie as they sat having tea. "The world is done with you, you become to all intents and purposes invisible, particularly if you are a woman. I like to think of it as your third life. There's childhood, then adult conformity - work, family, responsibility - then just when everyone assumes it's all over and you're on the scrap heap of old age, freedom! You can finally be who you are, not what society wants you to be, not who 'you' think you ought to be.

Hilary Boyd

Sixty is heaven," she [bohemian Aunt Norma] told Jeanie as they sat having tea. "The world is done with you, you become to all intents and purposes invisible, particularly if you are a woman. I like to think of it as your third life. There's childhood, then adult conformity - work, family, responsibility - then just when everyone assumes it's all over and you're on the scrap heap of old age, freedom! You can finally be who you are, not what society wants you to be, not who 'you' think you ought to be.

Tags: maturity

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About Hilary Boyd

Hilary Boyd (born June 23, 1949) is a Welsh-born British novelist. Her first novel, Thursdays in the Park, became an unexpected best seller. Her work, often dealing with the erotic lives of older people, has given rise to a new literary genre, described by the Observer newspaper, as 'gran-lit'.