B & N’s Sessalee Hensley talks to the York Daily Record about “hen lit” — more of an evolution than a trend, she argues:
… [Hensley] disputes the notion that such books are new, or that publishers have overlooked this age group — “It’s the bulk of their readership.”
“In the 1980s, it was more of the glamorous lifestyle novel ala Jackie Collins and Marilyn French,” Hensley said, responding via e-mail. “In the 1990s it was more of a family/relationship novel like Jane Hamilton or Amy Tan. Currently, it seems to be sort of the ‘starting over novel’ — be it mid-life crisis, divorce or widowhood.”
She said this type of fiction follows what’s happening with the baby boomer demographic.
“Career women were big in the ’80s, marriage and family was big in the ’90s and now, as we age, menopause, divorce, widowhood are the things happening in women’s lives and the fiction will reflect that.”
The title of this article, by the way, is “Fun After 50.” Because “menopause,” “divorce,” and “widowhood” so often blur into this for speed-reading editors.
Also, and more importantly: Do baby boomers really qualify as an “age group”? According to Hensley, “publishers [haven’t] overlooked [the 50+] age group.” But Hensely then says that “this type of fiction follows what’s happening” with baby boomers, who (as far as GC knows) haven’t always been over 50.