I had been thinking about the way women are portrayed in literature, particularly older women, and how little mention there is of the menopause as a part of women's lives. So I am on the look out for examples of menopausal women in my reading. This first one is from 'The Personal History of Rachel Dupree' by Ann Weisgarber, that I have been listening to on audiobook. This is a description of Mrs Fills-the-pipe, a native american woman who Rachel invites for tea on the porch, in spite of her husband's antagonism to 'Indians'.
"She looked older and slower than she had in the spring. Her back was bent with a little hump reminding me how women folded in on themselves when their child bearing years had passed."
