The phrase "an older protagonist" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when describing a main character in a story or narrative who is of an advanced age compared to typical protagonists.
Example: "In this novel, the author takes a bold step by featuring an older protagonist who navigates the complexities of life in retirement."
Alternatives: "a senior character" or "a mature lead".
It's worth noting that Hemmings is yet another young female novelist who has chosen to depict an older male protagonist, joining the ranks of, among others, Nicole Krauss in "The History of Love" and Zadie Smith in "On Beauty".
In These Are the Names, with its flawed, older protagonist, age and memory are recurrent motifs.
The novelist Mansoura Ezzedine was in the midst of writing a novel featuring a 20-year-old protagonist — an unsympathetic nihilist bored with politics and just about everything else — when the revolution broke.
The collection follows a series of progressively older protagonists, starting with 16-year-old Pat Linehan in "Play the Man".
The latest novel from the prolific Walter Mosley, whose mother died of dementia, features a 91-year-old protagonist offered a magical (and nonexistent) drug that can restore full mental clarity for a few months, after which it will kill him.
As Kenneth Turan put it in his review, "Made by a first-time feature director working with a microscopic budget and a tiny, 11-year-old protagonist, it's a 72-minute wonder, a self-assured, gently mysterious little film that is hypnotic in unexpected ways … 'The Fits' is an allusive, artistic film that prefers not to spell everything out, but we all know what it means".
This winning new novel features a 60-year-old protagonist, Vanessa Wonderman, whose concerns weigh a bit heavier than Isadora's: ailing parents, a pregnant daughter, a very wealthy husband with erectile dysfunction, and to top it all off: a sick dog. 5.
She was a 13-year-old protagonist, but she wasn't pretty or popular or a mean girl.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane follows a seven-year-old protagonist, but its creator says it is definitely not a children's book.
He's already written his next novel, which he'll reveal is called Invisible and has a 20-year-old protagonist ("no more old men in rooms for the time being").
