Marie de Hennezel is a psychologist, psychotherapist and advisor to the French Ministry of Health on palliative care matters, and is well-known in France for her ten books about issues of ageing, which have been translated into 22 languages. Sex After Sixty came from her readers’ interest in a chapter of an earlier book, The Warmth of Your Heart Prevents Your Body from Rusting. In the introduction she offers her perspective ‘as a Frenchwoman’ (the French, naturellement, being experts in amour) wishing to herald a ‘new sexual revolution for seniors.’ She also talks about striking a balance ‘between modesty and immodesty’ in this exploration; whereas frankness, you’d imagine, might be more useful in a guide to sexuality.
De Hennezel focuses her writing and research solely on the heterosexual couple, speaking about sex solely in terms of relationship and intimacy, sharing stories of couples and lovers in their late 70s and …