Book review: In Your Prime by India Knight

Have you seen those adverts that say they can tell you how not be poor when you retire? Then you read the small print, and the trick is to have £250,000 to start with.

I've just read a book that's a bit like that.



As I've mentioned before, going through middle-age sometimes feels like being in a foreign country without a map. There aren't many books around to help.

There's a new book out now that is not much help at all. For a start, it's not written by one of us. India Knight was 48 at the time of writing and not even menopausal. So why does she think she is qualified to tell us how to run our lives? She says the book is written for women "from about forty to about sixty-five". So why should a 65-year-old woman take advice from a 48-year-old? Because she writes columns for a right-wing national newspaper?

And as you'd expect from a Sunday Times writer, its all a bit jolly hockysticks. The main message seems to be: "The age thing is up to you" and we can all have a nice time if we listen to her advice.

That isn't strictly true. We can, as the subtitle has it, be "older, wiser and happier" but it helps if you have health and some money. A lot of money, actually.

Let's look at the chapter on Beauty and Maintenance. To stay looking nice, you need the following (and, yes, there is a LOT of product placement in this book):

A pedicure: the one she recommends is £125
A Marks and Spencer Foot File: at least, this one's only a fiver.
Laser eye treatment: hers cost about £10,000
Kerastase Soleil CC Creme: £15
Potion 9 by Sebastian: £18 (I've never heard of any of these things, either: I'm a Boots girl)
White Hot Hair shampoo: £12
Philips Sonicare electric toothbrush: £50
Janina whitening toothpaste: £55 (yes, that's what it said on the Amazon website)
A made-to-measure tooth bleaching tray: £250
A dental hygienist: who knows?
Regenerate toothpaste: £10
A haircut at John Frieda: they're not saying
Botox: she's given a web address for the people she goes to, but they're not saying either
Armani foundation: £39
By Terry eyeliner: £25
Armani Cheek Fabric Blush: £34
Studio 10 Contour Kit: £30
Urban Decay Eye Primer: £18
Charlotte Tilbury mascara: £22
Creme de la Mer facecream: £105 (or £350 for a large one)
Secret Camouflage concealer: £26
Alpha-H moisturiser: £29.

And that's before you get to buying clothes. Or her diet book.Or her list of essentials in the penultimate chapter, Living Well (good handbag, big TV, etc).

I'm glad I didn't pay £16.99 for the book. I got it from the library.