Title: HOW TO AGE DISGRACEFULLY
Author: CLARE POOLEY
ISBN: 9781804992319
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Pages: 356
Source: Private Copy
When Lydia takes a job running the Senior Citizens’ Social Club three afternoons a week, she assumes she’ll be spending her time drinking tea and playing gentle games of cards.
The members of the Social Club, however, are not at all what Lydia was expecting. From Art, a failed actor turned kleptomaniac to Daphne, who has been hiding from her dark past for decades to Ruby, a Banksy-style knitter who gets revenge in yarn, these seniors look deceptively benign—but when age makes you invisible, secrets are so much easier to hide.
When the city council threatens to sell the doomed community center building, the members of the Social Club join forces with their tiny friends in the daycare next door—as well as the teenaged father of one of the toddlers and a geriatric dog—to save the building. Together, this group’s unorthodox methods may actually work, as long as the police don’t catch up with them first.
Official Summary
28 April 2026
How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley is my first experience with this author, and the title immediately caught my attention. In fact, it made the perfect birthday gift for a friend’s 50th!
How to Age Disgracefully is a delightful and uplifting read about friendship, community, and growing older. At its heart, it reminds us to see people for who they truly are, rather than judging them by first impressions.
Pooley brings together a wonderfully eclectic group of characters at a local community centre. Each one is a marvellous creation—quirky, flawed, and entirely believable. I especially enjoyed how the story highlights that people are always more complex than they initially appear. After this, Clare Pooley is definitely an author I’m excited to read more from.
On her 70th birthday, Daphne decides it’s time to step out of her comfort zone and make some friends. She joins a group at her local community centre, though at first she’s not convinced she belongs. Before long, however, she finds herself caught up in the group’s chaotic and heartwarming dynamics—babysitting a toddler, helping the group leader plot revenge on a cheating husband, and spending time with Art, a man who doesn’t make the best first impression.
Daphne quickly won me over with her wit and charm. She initially comes across as prickly, but it soon becomes clear that her heart is firmly in the right place. The humour woven throughout the story kept me smiling, while still allowing space for genuine emotional depth.
This is a creative, feel-good novel filled with quirky characters, laugh-out-loud moments, and a strong sense of community. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a light, fun read that still carries emotional weight.
Also by Clare Pooley
THE AUTHENTICITY PROJECT
Julian Jessop, an eccentric, lonely artist and septuagenarian, believes that most people aren’t really honest with each other. But what if they were? And so he writes–in a plain, green journal–the truth about his own life and leaves it in his local café. It’s run by the incredibly tidy and efficient Monica, who furtively adds her own entry and leaves the book in the wine bar across the street. Before long, the others who find the green notebook add the truths about their own deepest selves–and soon find each other in real life at Monica’s café.
About the Author
Author bio from the author’s site
Clare Pooley graduated from Newnham College, Cambridge and spent twenty years in the heady world of advertising.
Clare’s memoir – The Sober Diaries – has helped thousands of people around the world to quit drinking.
The Authenticity Project, Clare’s first novel, was a New York Times bestseller, a BBC Radio 2 book club pick, and winner of the RNA debut novel award.
Clare’s second novel – called The People on Platform 5 in the UK, and Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting in the USA – was published in 2022.
How to Age Disgracefully is being published in June 2024.
Clare lives in London and Cornwall, with her husband, 3 kids and 2 border terriers. She loves cooking, walking the cliff paths and wild swimming.
Thank you for visiting the blog and reading my review. I am looking forward to reading more of Clare Pooley’s books. I have a copy of The Authenticity Project which I will need to get to soon. Are you a fan? Which is your favourite book? Please leave a comment below. Until next time…. Happy Reading!
