Too Old for Dolls: A Novel

"Too Old for Dolls" by Anthony M. Ludovici is a novel set in the early 1900s that examines families, growing older, and what society expects of women, through the story of Mrs. Delarayne, a well-to-do widow, who tries to find husbands for her daughters, Cleopatra and Leonetta. Cleopatra struggles with finding a partner she likes as she feels the pressure to get married. Family issues come up when her younger sister, Leonetta, comes back home, possibly creating competition between the sisters and making things more complicated. The story begins in Mrs. Delarayne's fancy home, where she thinks about her daughters' happiness, creating a feeling of stress and high expectations for the rest of the book.