“Women should not simply disappear when they reach a certain age”

A bestselling author says older women are “relevant” and “shouldn’t just retreat and disappear when they reach a certain age.”

Ruth Hogan, 63, from Bedford, said the main character in her latest book, The Phoenix Ballroom, is about the same age as Cher, “who you would never describe as an elderly lady.”

Her first book, The Keeper of Lost Things, was published in 2016 at the age of 50, just four years after she was diagnosed with cancer.

“There’s this thing about women: when they reach a certain age, they become less visible and have less of a say. I find that ridiculous,” she said.

“Think of people like Helen Mirren, Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, they’re still very much alive, they’re sexy, they have a voice.”

Hogan said her fifth book was meant to be “realistic” and she set it in the town where she was born and raised.

“I wanted to cheer Bedford up a little in this book,” she added.

“It’s a story full of hope. It’s really for anyone who thinks it’s too late, because it’s never too late.

“You shouldn’t think that you give up at a certain age. You should just keep going. I didn’t publish anything until I was over 50. So I have a whole new life now and if I can do it, anyone can.”

Her four previous books, including “The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes,” “Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel” and “Madame Burova,” have sold over two million copies, according to her publisher.

Modeled after an abandoned venue, the Phoenix Ballroom was inspired by an Art Deco building on the city’s waterfront that was demolished in the 1980s.

She said it was built as an indoor roller skating rink and then converted into a cinema, a garage and a “café dansant” – a cafe and dance hall.

She remembered standing in line for the matinee of “The Aristocats” there as a child.

“I think there’s something spooky and magical about an abandoned ballroom. I always think that buildings tell stories,” she said.

“It’s almost a monument to all the stories that (the building) holds.”

The main aim of her books is to “stand up for outsiders. I often write about people who are different in some way, who are described as ‘broken in the oven,’ who live on the fringes of society,” she said.

She also hopes that the book will boost tourism.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if people came to Bedford to see the place where I set it,” she added.