50 & Fabulous

Some women dread the approach of their fiftieth birthdays, fearing it's goodbye to good times and good looks. Others barely notice the transition; they know how to welcome each age for its particular blessings. These are the women Jaki Scarcello calls 'Women of the Harvest' - women who aren't trying to turn back the clock, but reaping the fruits of a life well lived, recognising and receiving the real gifts this stage of life brings - women for whom 'fifty plus' doesn't mean less, but more. Drawing on her own experience, as well as exhaustive research into other women's stories - a series of interviews conducted in five countries - Scarcello shows with wisdom and wit how changing our attitude toward ageing can bring about a 'virtuous cycle' of rejuvenation. Women who know this embrace the years after 50 with a spirit of optimism and energy that is truly liberating. They understand that, in maturity, a woman has the potential for genuine elegance; a beauty more than skin-deep that sparkles confidently and generously from the eyes, and a whole new brand of personal sexiness.On a deeper level, they possess a secret power and joy, which radiates outward into the world and illuminates everyone around them. These women who blossom in their 50s know that their time of life is a time of grace, and that it's richer and more ripe with possibility now than at any other time in our history. Through their stories there runs a common thread of spiritual transformation - the harvest of a good life when it starts to divest itself of youth's superficial anxieties. In the space that opens up beyond 50, experience and potential form a perfect fusion: this is the most fertile ground a woman ever knows.