A Pity it's not for Sissies

Ageing stalks us, mischievously skirting the shadows before jumping out shouting “surprise!”   This book represents an exploration of that experience.  It is written as a conversation between reader and writer.  Humorous autobiographical anecdotes link the ‘real’ with the ‘old’ person and are interleaved with commentary on physical change, societal change, and mortality.

The author insists her wry observations are not intended as advice, and accepts that her reactions to a changing world are open to challenge.  Inevitably readers will be prompted to explore their own attitudes to the issues discussed.

Jennifer Stillman’s family emigrated from England to New Zealand in 1949, when only well-off families had telephones, let alone cell-phones, TVs, computers, email, and the internet. Reminiscences from the changing world between then and now reflect her somewhat idiosyncratic interest in motorsports and things mechanical.  Although written from the perspective of a woman, both men and women from age 40 onwards will recognize aspects of their own experience.  Sooner or later the bemusing adventure of ageing is relevant to each of us … if we are lucky.