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.
R340.00
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Bloomer
Fully early pandemic “locked down” in an old age home, 70-year-old boomer, Maggie, ditches her bra, browses an old diary and reconnects with her artist self. While the world is happier with its oldies locked away, the lovable and maverick elders of Hazyview Mansions, galvanised by Maggie and her four close 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. Bloomer is both enormous fun and truly weighty.
Like Maggie, the protagonist of Bloomer, Anne Schlebusch, is 70 years old. This deft author is no stranger to writing though, having been a co-author of language textbooks and a curriculum guide. She has written three Young Adult novels, becoming a 1995 Joint Winner of the “Young Africa Award” with one of them. In 2020 her short story was longlisted in the Kwela Corona Competition. After completing her MPhil in Applied Language Studies (cum laude) at UCT in 1995, Anne left teaching to join the Western Cape Education Department and concluded her long and illustrious career with a decade as Director of Business Strategy for the WCED. She lives in Cape Town with her family, which includes children, grandchildren, cats, and dogs.
“As we celebrate the increasing diversity of voices in South African fiction, the elder voice is often overlooked. Bloomer is a refreshing antidote to that. Schlebusch’s Maggie is a delightful character with an internal life as full and rich as her external exploits. This book deals in second, third, and fourth chances at everything from family life to romantic love, to a career in the arts. I found it both inspiring and stimulating.” Fiona Snyckers, award-winning author
Not usually a topic for bestsellers, despite being universal, the issue of ‘oldies’ nonetheless came up a lot during COVID, they being amongst the most vulnerable across the world – and it was this that for Schlebusch seems to have trigged Bloomer and its cast of venerable, warm, wise and witty characters, collectively known as ‘Invictus’ and all of whom are residents at The Hazyview Mansions Retirement Home…
Bloomer and the adventures therein are very, very funny. Not only funny but smart … and full of love and learnings, tough and tender – what Maggie refers to as her ‘old bird wisdom’. If Schlebusch has her way, the Bloomer attitude and joie de vivre could soon go viral. Viva! Nancy Richards, Womenzone Book Club
“Old age could – and should – be a time of fun, exploration, and freedom. That sums up the author, Anne Schlebusch’s, delightful, amusing, and even challenging novel about a group of elders in Bloomer. They plot new paths forward, out of the retirement home in which they’ve been ‘ imprisoned’ during SA’s Covid lockdown. Anne Schlesbusch has burst the stereotypical bubble into which society has locked the elderly – listen for the ‘whoosh’ as they run. I loved it.” Sue Grant-Marshall, Radio 2000
“From start to finish, the story is riotous fun, a total hoot, I love that.” Professor Monica Ferreira
“Anne manages to weave her distinct wit into words as she explores the reality of getting older. This moving novel reminds us of our duty to care for those who came before us and to share our life’s learnings with those we will leave behind. Offering a perspective that is irrefutably older and wiser, this engrossing debut reminds us that retirement is just the beginning of an adventurous new chapter” Twanji Kalula (content writer and editor)
“We’ve been nailed! With all our foibles and our fun.” Robin Malan, author, publisher
