Warning: When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple

Although the phrase 'when I am an old woman I shall wear purple' rang a bell with me, I did not know exactly what it was. Of course, when I received the book I remembered the fabulous poem of that title. Therefore I was a little disappointed by this book as all it is is the 20 lines of the poem split into one line per page, each with a not-particularly exciting sketch. I had bought it as a gift for a female relatives 60th birthday, but I feel it will take her 2 minutes to read the book, and then it doesn't have enough interest to warrant reading again. Disappointing. Maybe I should have spent longer racking my brains as to what 'When I am an old woman...' meant!

Warning When I am an Old Woman I shall wear purple (20/22 people found this helpful)

This is the book every woman should have! When ever you feel down in the mouth, it will make you laugh, cheer you up, and bring back a little defiance and fun! When I say to my female friends ''When I am old I shall wear purple'' they know EXACTLY what I mean!

A few words of advice... (48/55 people found this helpful)

Do you have a mother? If so, we have something in common. Now, could it be that your mother is a woman at that certain age? You're grown up, aren't you? You've been to university, you have a career, and a partner. You are also landed with a couple of toddlers, a crippling mortgage, and the prospect of years and years of school fees. There! I knew I was right. What is more you need your mother to help you through, don't you? Go on, admit it, you do. Nil desperandum. She will not let you down. She is well aware, as Jenny Joseph assures us, of the need to 'have clothes that keep us dry /And pay our rent and not swear in the street /And set a good example for the children'.

However, while your mother is being the tower of strength every mother ought to be, she has plans, not just to 'have friends for dinner' but for a future with a difference, at least different from the one you imagine for her. Your mother, like countless other women at this certain age, is dreaming of her second adolescence, a time at which she can rebel against your expectations and, as Jenny Joseph puts it, 'make up for the sobriety of my youth'. It is this second adolescence that Ms Joseph's poem illustrates in her funny, poignant scenarios of a woman, not too unlike our mothers, who plans to 'wear purple /With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me'.

Remember, Jenny Joseph's poem is titled "Warning". Invest in this little book, with its hilariously irreverent illustrations by Pythia Ashton-Jewell, and prepare yourself for a mother who flitters her 'pension on brandy and summer gloves /And satin sandals'. Better still, buy this book for your mother and watch her face. You run the risk that it would never have occurred to her to 'eat three pounds of sausages at a go' but the chances are she'll recognize herself in the character musing as to whether she 'ought to practice a little now?'. Go on! She'll love it. And you never know, she might even forgive you for forgetting Mother's Day!

Warning: When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple

Jenny Joseph

Reader Reviews:

Disappointing (26/26 people found this helpful)

Warning When I am an Old Woman I shall wear purple (20/22 people found this helpful)

A few words of advice... (48/55 people found this helpful)

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