Schlebusch herself was forced to find new blooms in the pandemic when lockdown derailed her quest for a doctorate. In that space, she recalls listening in horror as society decided, in her words: “It's actually fine if [the elderly are] the ones dying in large numbers.”
In reply, Schlebusch picked up the proverbial pen.
Thus, the novel follows 70-year-old Maggie and her friends in their retirement home. Cut off from society and each other, she and her pals figure out how to Zoom and master WhatsApp. What follows are organised protests, exposure of elderly abuse, viral media campaigns, rogue gardeners, romance and rekindling of old dreams and ambitions.
“The messages in the book are bald,” Schlebusch admits. “Live it up, use your voice. Your voice is your muscle AND your tool. If need be, it’s a weapon. But very, very critically, it’s about having fun and living life to your own agenda.”
Not that the story sees life through a rosy tint. The characters have real hardships and experience loss, as many did in the pandemic. There is genuine fear. But the tenacious group refuses to be silenced.
Schlebusch’s own pandemic experience echoes some of this — her brother died while borders were closed. “I literally couldn’t write or read for over three months,” she recalls. “Picking up again was painful, but I kept him and his lonely struggles in my mind and heart.”
Thus, Schlebusch, like her characters, found the courage to bloom for another season and she hopes her readers will too.
Click here to buy the book
Blooming marvellous
In 'Bloomer', Anne Schlebusch creates a delightful coming-of-age tale set in a retirement village, writes Tiah Beautement
Image: Supplied
Bloomer
Anne Schlebusch, Modjaji
**** (4 stars)
Anne Schlebusch’s Bloomer is a story about living life wide, something missed by many publishers, who were scared off because it is set during the pandemic in a retirement home. They feared it would be dreary and dull. Instead, it is a delightful coming-of-age tale.
Because “coming of age” is not an experience reserved for the youth. During working adulthood, many are asked to put aside their true selves and desires for children, grandchildren, partners, calls to arms and causes, and punching the clock to pay bills. Consequently, it often isn’t until retirement that a person has space to fully “bloom”.
“I am in love with the concept of blooming,” Schlebusch says, “and having a blooming lot of fun and blooming for all to see and to know.”
Image: Supplied
Schlebusch herself was forced to find new blooms in the pandemic when lockdown derailed her quest for a doctorate. In that space, she recalls listening in horror as society decided, in her words: “It's actually fine if [the elderly are] the ones dying in large numbers.”
In reply, Schlebusch picked up the proverbial pen.
Thus, the novel follows 70-year-old Maggie and her friends in their retirement home. Cut off from society and each other, she and her pals figure out how to Zoom and master WhatsApp. What follows are organised protests, exposure of elderly abuse, viral media campaigns, rogue gardeners, romance and rekindling of old dreams and ambitions.
“The messages in the book are bald,” Schlebusch admits. “Live it up, use your voice. Your voice is your muscle AND your tool. If need be, it’s a weapon. But very, very critically, it’s about having fun and living life to your own agenda.”
Not that the story sees life through a rosy tint. The characters have real hardships and experience loss, as many did in the pandemic. There is genuine fear. But the tenacious group refuses to be silenced.
Schlebusch’s own pandemic experience echoes some of this — her brother died while borders were closed. “I literally couldn’t write or read for over three months,” she recalls. “Picking up again was painful, but I kept him and his lonely struggles in my mind and heart.”
Thus, Schlebusch, like her characters, found the courage to bloom for another season and she hopes her readers will too.
Click here to buy the book
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