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Bloomer
While the world is happier with its oldies locked away during the pandemic, the lovable and maverick elders of Hazyview Mansions, galvanised by Maggie and her friends, have their own ideas. Romance, old loves; individual, local and global issues drive the story of this consequential movement with sustained and gentle humour.
292 pages, Paperback
Published February 1, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 28, 2023
Utterly delightful read.
When I grow older, I want to be Mag and Cath. Yes, both of them. Like a two in one.
When I grow older, I want to be Mag and Cath. Yes, both of them. Like a two in one.
May 8, 2023
Bloomin’ marvellous! I simply loved this book, laughing out loud, wiping away a tear or two but generally rolling along with the adventures of the five not-to-be-silenced friends who are led by the feisty Maggie. This is a story that will resonate with all ages but it is focused on a group of Boomer residents of the HazyView Mansions, a retirement home in Cape Town. It’s the early stages of the pandemic and these oldies are locked down but definitely not taking it lying down!
There has been much in the news of elder abuse, loneliness, neglect and generally not respecting the value of those very people who have given life to you, but this is a story that pulses with life. Lives that have their ups and downs but are up for an adventure – or two – or three, which in my experience, as a Boomer myself, is evident in many of my contemporaries.
To place it in context the Baby Boomer generation was born between 1946 and 1964 – a generation that has moved through many changes in the decades following World War ll.. In my opinion, but then I am biased, decades that have been exhilarating, terrifying, embracing, technically challenging but hugely exciting.
I could not resist googling (where were you when I was studying?) boomer characteristics and Anne presents all of them within the story. Resourceful, independent, competitive, goal oriented – they have it all! In both hilarious and serious situations we follow the Invictus group of Maggie, Corinne, Adolphus, Philip and Nobantu as they revolutionize the expected behaviour of those living in an old age home. Each of the characters are well fleshed out and present familiar contemporaries. That many of them were defined by their professional accomplishments is evident as they rediscover their strengths and play to them.
For artist Maggie a return to that milieu was inevitable, but it is how she gets there that is enchanting. An old journal re-opens some doors for her, a reminder that she is still the person she was, even with a few aches and pains (and as someone once said to me –‘at least with those aches and pains we know we’re still alive.’) Her internal musings are as funny as some of the situations she finds herself in.
Throw in some romance - past lovers reappear in very different circumstances – and Schlebusch underlines the value of relationships, past, present and future. Above all she makes us visible and boy, are the characters visible! There are epiphanies to be negotiated, there is life still to be lived and not a moment to be wasted.
Schlebusch is an active 70 and while this is her debut novel she is no stranger to writing, having produced Young Adult novels as well as educational and curriculum based publications. She has a keen eye and an even keener pen, writing in an easy conversational style which is as engaging as the characters. She sees her contemporaries in the technicolour that they are, and celebrates their willingness to participate and not be silent onlookers. Which is why this story is so refreshing and perhaps why we are seeing many more stories about older folk and their passions!
It's all about attitude - and having an attitude is a terrible thing to waste – use it!
April 25, 2023
I found “Bloomer” thoroughly enjoyable. It was one of those books that I read with a permanent grin on my face.
“Old folks’ kind of night. Hello, the wee hours. And that refers to the loo, too. The wee hours and the wonky bladders. Like a newborn.”
And yes, all isn’t necessarily fun and (dark?) humour, but I absolutely adored Maggie and her crew.
“You could practise being grumpy from age 60 up but the Golden Age for grumping is 70 plus.”
Now, three years after our first hard lockdown due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, I found it quite amazing of how much I forgot about what we all went through, but also how easy it was to remember, whilst reading this book.
“Maggie knew she was a Boomer. Born 1950. A life bookended by World War 2 and Covid-19. Seventy years and now this damnable scythe of death.”
The story starts early 2020 and we meet the delightful group of friends, naming themselves “Invictus”, from the Hazyview Mansions retirement community.
I am ashamed to admit, I was under the impression that the Hazyview Mansions is in Hazyview, Mpumalanga. So, it took me longer than it should have to understand why they were able to Uber to the Rhodes Memorial for tea! Facepalm.
Living in a retirement home, this aged gang was quickly quarantined during lockdown. Without any face-to-face contact, being isolated in their rooms, they quickly found a way to socialise, and the part where they all gear up for their first Zoom call, was one of my favourite bits in the book. It also reminded me of what an astounding time in history we lived through. Drive-by birthday celebrations, meeting up with family to quickly pass shopping over the gate, living in tracksuit pants. Wow, it feels like a lifetime ago!
Whilst Maggie and Invictus navigate this scary and uncertain times, we see how the feisty Maggie starts to emerge (again).
“Maggie perked up on hearing the word “aged”. “There. That’s a reasonable word ‘Geriatric’ drives me crazy, and ‘elderly’ is so loosely and rudely, it seems to be. ‘Aged’ is just a technical term. Anyway – ‘Boomer’ Is the cutest.””
Calling themselves “Bloomers” the most wonderful initiatives and projects are initiated – with the help of loving and supportive family, friends and some of the retirement home staff.
“Maggie got straight to the point. What about calling themselves Bloomers? It was the poppies on her leggings that had grabbed her heart. Blooming is aspirational. If we’re going with branding, let’s get blooming!”
“They looked at each other and enjoyed a chain of grins. They liked the idea of being Bloomers. It was a totally apt and enticing term. Fun, lively, taking them forward. Their own word. Lekker!”
The most noticeable initiative? Giving elderly people their dignitary and meaning in life back.
“Wasn’t it indeed a time to plant a new society for the oldies? Take them out of their glass cabinets. They’re not only feel-good ornaments. Sad old hug machines. They aren’t the moth-balled walking-dead. Take them out of their pre-coffins. Cultivate everything that would add value to their lives. Believe in agency.”
It was an eye-opener to read about Maggie and her friends’ thoughts about their senior years. Honest, and enlightening.
“Mags continued: “I know it might look disrespectful for people to be standing among the gravestones but, to be honest, we old folk look at gravestones as our welcome mat to the next world and let’s not pretend we are heading anywhere else. Applies to all of us, of course, but we’re just a lot closer to it than you are.””
“When had they started to talk about booking into a retirement place? Was it in their early sixties? Starting to worry about places being full? Peer pressure? Turning the dimmer switch on their lives.”
“Old age homes are, sadly, a pre-coffin portal, with stays of varied duration – often wheel-chaired in and usually gurneyed out to a discreetly parked black van. Long-term residents could quickly categorise the newbies in terms of the three M’s – mobility, marbles, and months left. “
“At the end, when Christiane invited her to address old people directly, she had looked the camera in the eye and said, “Don’t be so scared of protecting your future that you can’t live in the present. You only have one life and only one body; don’t check yourself out of joy.””
Marvelous Maggie doesn’t just take on the cause of agency for the elderly, but other social ails as well.
“I said it’s time for people to unmute their strong feelings or horror or anger fundamental causes. Evils like those to do with racism, not one race, that’s a label, don’t like it but it’s a label. Racism is evil. And treating women like ‘things’ to be relied upon, or often just used and discarded, or cruelly raped and murdered. Unmute. That’s what we must do!”
I giggled, I laughed, and I cried a bit as well. Because love will always find you.
“Maggie was surprised to find her heart flipping. At 70 you think that’s all over. You’re too creaky, too selfish, too afraid of infirmity, too focused on staving off dependency, too focused on your unreliable knees and your wobbles on the stairs. Too farty.”
“Stories aren’t bookended by Januaries and Decembers. We aren’t movie directors who can shriek, “Stop it right there! This is my feel-good moment. The pinnacle.” There might be a defined start but there isn’t an end.”
What a joy!
With thanks to Helco Promotions and Modjadi books for the opportunity to read this book.
“Old folks’ kind of night. Hello, the wee hours. And that refers to the loo, too. The wee hours and the wonky bladders. Like a newborn.”
And yes, all isn’t necessarily fun and (dark?) humour, but I absolutely adored Maggie and her crew.
“You could practise being grumpy from age 60 up but the Golden Age for grumping is 70 plus.”
Now, three years after our first hard lockdown due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, I found it quite amazing of how much I forgot about what we all went through, but also how easy it was to remember, whilst reading this book.
“Maggie knew she was a Boomer. Born 1950. A life bookended by World War 2 and Covid-19. Seventy years and now this damnable scythe of death.”
The story starts early 2020 and we meet the delightful group of friends, naming themselves “Invictus”, from the Hazyview Mansions retirement community.
I am ashamed to admit, I was under the impression that the Hazyview Mansions is in Hazyview, Mpumalanga. So, it took me longer than it should have to understand why they were able to Uber to the Rhodes Memorial for tea! Facepalm.
Living in a retirement home, this aged gang was quickly quarantined during lockdown. Without any face-to-face contact, being isolated in their rooms, they quickly found a way to socialise, and the part where they all gear up for their first Zoom call, was one of my favourite bits in the book. It also reminded me of what an astounding time in history we lived through. Drive-by birthday celebrations, meeting up with family to quickly pass shopping over the gate, living in tracksuit pants. Wow, it feels like a lifetime ago!
Whilst Maggie and Invictus navigate this scary and uncertain times, we see how the feisty Maggie starts to emerge (again).
“Maggie perked up on hearing the word “aged”. “There. That’s a reasonable word ‘Geriatric’ drives me crazy, and ‘elderly’ is so loosely and rudely, it seems to be. ‘Aged’ is just a technical term. Anyway – ‘Boomer’ Is the cutest.””
Calling themselves “Bloomers” the most wonderful initiatives and projects are initiated – with the help of loving and supportive family, friends and some of the retirement home staff.
“Maggie got straight to the point. What about calling themselves Bloomers? It was the poppies on her leggings that had grabbed her heart. Blooming is aspirational. If we’re going with branding, let’s get blooming!”
“They looked at each other and enjoyed a chain of grins. They liked the idea of being Bloomers. It was a totally apt and enticing term. Fun, lively, taking them forward. Their own word. Lekker!”
The most noticeable initiative? Giving elderly people their dignitary and meaning in life back.
“Wasn’t it indeed a time to plant a new society for the oldies? Take them out of their glass cabinets. They’re not only feel-good ornaments. Sad old hug machines. They aren’t the moth-balled walking-dead. Take them out of their pre-coffins. Cultivate everything that would add value to their lives. Believe in agency.”
It was an eye-opener to read about Maggie and her friends’ thoughts about their senior years. Honest, and enlightening.
“Mags continued: “I know it might look disrespectful for people to be standing among the gravestones but, to be honest, we old folk look at gravestones as our welcome mat to the next world and let’s not pretend we are heading anywhere else. Applies to all of us, of course, but we’re just a lot closer to it than you are.””
“When had they started to talk about booking into a retirement place? Was it in their early sixties? Starting to worry about places being full? Peer pressure? Turning the dimmer switch on their lives.”
“Old age homes are, sadly, a pre-coffin portal, with stays of varied duration – often wheel-chaired in and usually gurneyed out to a discreetly parked black van. Long-term residents could quickly categorise the newbies in terms of the three M’s – mobility, marbles, and months left. “
“At the end, when Christiane invited her to address old people directly, she had looked the camera in the eye and said, “Don’t be so scared of protecting your future that you can’t live in the present. You only have one life and only one body; don’t check yourself out of joy.””
Marvelous Maggie doesn’t just take on the cause of agency for the elderly, but other social ails as well.
“I said it’s time for people to unmute their strong feelings or horror or anger fundamental causes. Evils like those to do with racism, not one race, that’s a label, don’t like it but it’s a label. Racism is evil. And treating women like ‘things’ to be relied upon, or often just used and discarded, or cruelly raped and murdered. Unmute. That’s what we must do!”
I giggled, I laughed, and I cried a bit as well. Because love will always find you.
“Maggie was surprised to find her heart flipping. At 70 you think that’s all over. You’re too creaky, too selfish, too afraid of infirmity, too focused on staving off dependency, too focused on your unreliable knees and your wobbles on the stairs. Too farty.”
“Stories aren’t bookended by Januaries and Decembers. We aren’t movie directors who can shriek, “Stop it right there! This is my feel-good moment. The pinnacle.” There might be a defined start but there isn’t an end.”
What a joy!
With thanks to Helco Promotions and Modjadi books for the opportunity to read this book.
July 26, 2023
Set during the first year of the Covid-19 lockdown, this novel is a reminder of the things (fears) many of us felt during that time. The lockdown’s impact on quality of life was perhaps most profound for senior citizens, especially those in retirement residences. In Bloomer, we meet a group of spirited seniors and observe their reactions to the pandemic restrictions and the threat of the virus.
Both entertaining and thoughtful, the writing style is breezy, but protagonist Maggie confronts many real and urgent issues, possibly most seriously the infantilising and abuse of the elderly.
It’s also a novel about friendship, family, romance, and art as activism.
Oh, and it features a cute gecko called Sunshine. As someone who talked to geckos during the lockdown and even wrote a poem about doing so, I could relate!
Both entertaining and thoughtful, the writing style is breezy, but protagonist Maggie confronts many real and urgent issues, possibly most seriously the infantilising and abuse of the elderly.
It’s also a novel about friendship, family, romance, and art as activism.
Oh, and it features a cute gecko called Sunshine. As someone who talked to geckos during the lockdown and even wrote a poem about doing so, I could relate!
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March 8, 2023I'm behind, but am hoping to post quotes soon.
May 8, 2023
Riotous, rich in entertainment and originality, hilarious but also layered and authentic, relatable on many fronts, highly recommended. Everyone needs a Maggie in their lives.
April 13, 2025
As a seventy-something contemporary of the author, I relate to Maggie and friends in so many ways. I love the humour and perspicacity that shine throughout the pages. This was a delightful read.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews