How Miranda July's All Fours Sparked a Cultural Awakening Around Midlife, Desire, and Female Reinvention

In a literary world crowded with annual “must-reads,” it’s rare for a novel to not only dominate bestseller lists and book clubs but also permeate pop culture to become a true phenomenon. All Fours, Miranda July’s audacious and intimate exploration of a woman in her mid-40s, has done just that and more. Since its release in spring 2024, the book has ignited fierce discussion, praise, backlash, and a level of cultural resonance comparable to the legacy of Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying.

At its core, All Fours is an erotic, existential, and emotionally charged narrative that challenges societal expectations of women in midlife. The unnamed protagonist a semi-famous, 45-year-old Los Angeles-based artist and mother sets out on a solo road trip funded by an unexpected advertising deal. But instead of reaching New York, she stops in Monrovia, where a chance encounter with a younger man, Davey, leads her to impulsively check into a motel. Days turn into weeks, and she spends her entire windfall transforming the room into a faux-Parisian escape, igniting a personal and sexual metamorphosis.

This diversion becomes a symbolic detour from convention. Instead of the freedom she initially sought through travel, she begins a more profound internal journey unpacking the complexities of ageing, longing, identity, desire, and perimenopause. A diagnosis of hormonal transition becomes a spark for radical reinvention, with July’s protagonist confronting the idea that a woman’s libido and her sense of purpose should quietly fade with age.

A Literary Mirror to the Midlife Moment

What makes All Fours groundbreaking is its refusal to sanitize or sentimentalize female midlife. Instead, it dives deep into the chaos, passion, and raw uncertainty that often accompanies this stage. Critics have called it everything from “life-changing” to “hateable.” The New York Times hailed it as “the first great perimenopause novel,” while New York Magazine praised its unapologetic sensuality. The Washington Post even predicted it might “rally a generation of women.”

The novel’s cultural ripple effect has been enormous. Women have championed the book with fervor passing it to sisters, mothers, and friends. Meanwhile, July’s media presence has surged. She’s been featured in major interviews, magazine covers, and was recently named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People of 2025. A TV adaptation is already in the works, and the book is shortlisted for major awards including the Women’s Prize for Fiction.

Reframing Female Desire and Midlife Identity

Treena Orchard, a Canadian academic who presented a paper on All Fours at the Contemporary Women’s Writing Association conference in the UK, considers the book revolutionary. “She’s helping create mythology and meaning by designating this phase of life as a culturally important rite of passage,” says Orchard. “That is political, and that is radical.”

Indeed, July’s intent to shed light on perimenopause was deliberate. Speaking to The Guardian, she said: “If men had this huge change, it would be considered monumental! There would be rituals. There’d be holidays. There’d be rights and religions.” Her research included interviews with gynaecologists, naturopaths, and friends, making the novel a layered and informed narrative not just a personal one.

While July is not the first author to explore the themes of ageing and sexuality think Annie Ernaux, Catherine Newman, Fran Littlewood, or Joanne Harris All Fours has captured the zeitgeist in a way few others have. The novel’s timing, tone, and provocative lens feel tailor-made for our current cultural moment, where conversations about women's autonomy, ageism, and desire are increasingly urgent and visible.

A Modern Classic in the Making?

Like Fear of Flying did in the 1970s, All Fours forces readers especially women to confront uncomfortable questions about freedom, fulfilment, and the cost of conforming. It may be divisive, but that’s precisely what gives it power. Whether readers are shocked, inspired, or challenged by its pages, one thing is clear: Miranda July has written a novel that refuses to be ignored.

And in doing so, she has shifted the narrative around what it means to be a woman in midlife from something feared or hidden to something ferocious, funny, erotic, and entirely worth talking about.