How to Age Disgracefully: A Novel

“An uproarious romp!” —People

“Pooley weaves together the most cleverly flawed and lovable characters and then sets them free to prove that we are limitless at any age.” —Annabel Monaghan, bestselling author of Summer Romance

A senior citizens’ center and a daycare collide with hilarious results in the new ensemble comedy from New York Times-bestselling author Clare Pooley


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.

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Published Jun 11, 2024

352 pages

Average rating: 7.77

277 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

thenextgoodbook
Sep 04, 2025
6/10 stars
thenextgoodbook.com

What’s it about?

When a group of pensioners join a new Senior Social Club- you never know what will happen. The club is housed in the Mandel Community Center along with a nursery, AA, and a karate club. When the council threatens to tear down the Community Center to make way for a new project, the seniors devise a plan.

What did it make me think about?

Not quite like the seniors I know….

Should I read it?

This book started slow for me. I enjoyed the characters and the story was quite clever—lots of humor and lots of hope. Don’t overthink this one. Just enjoy!

Quote-

“Lydia helped herself to another celebratory slice of cake. Maybe it would help plump out some of her wrinkles. Like a cosmetic filler, but more tasty.”
Gabriela-in-Amherst
Nov 11, 2024
8/10 stars
An enjoyable read. While the characters and their actions might not be completely believable, they were creatively presented and their antics were entertaining.
AH
Sep 19, 2025
8/10 stars
Cute, easy read. Various fun developed characters & some twists!
Brianna Berry
Aug 19, 2025
10/10 stars
What a perfectly written book. Very fun with all the different narrators & wow, I could read ten more books about the adventures (or misadventures) these characters have.
Chapterchica
Jun 23, 2025
10/10 stars
Funny and a great story line with senior citizens

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