In There Was An Old Woman, Andrea Carlisle presents a collection of personal essays that explore this time of life and consider misperceptions, hard truths, needs, and often beautiful complexity. This book is a rallying cry and a rejection of received wisdom about what old age should look like and how old people--especially older women--should feel and behave. In her view, old age is a long walk, not a singular moment, or even a few years, in time. This period of life needs literature for sustenance, with voices that inspire and challenge, as much as any other. Carlisle digs into what old age...