45 Things To Do Before You're 45 by Julia Tuffs

Uproariously funny and deeply human, 45 Things … is an all-too relatable story of what it means to be alive and how much living we all still have to do.

Meet Charlie; unfulfilled and perimenopausal, Charlie’s suburban life is a far cry from the Manhattan glamour she once dreamed of. Her husband is incapable of talking about anything other than his latest Ironman challenge, her sex life consists of fictional encounters with Hollywood stars, her kids need constant management, and to make things worse, her optician has just prescribed her reading glasses. Oh, and she can’t stop crying at TV adverts…

In the hope of re-discovering her sense of self, Charlie begins writing a list: 45 things to do before she’s 45. Eat an oyster, Take up parkour, Read War and Peace, Take ecstasy, Try stand-up comedy, Go to a sex club.

Determined to complete them all, Charlie embarks on a chaotic odyssey through her own spectacular midlife crisis, challenging herself to become the person she wants to be. But what happens if we’re not that person? How do we learn to let them go? Or does something else have to give?