Heather Bloom, 89 years old, falls off a ladder in her garden. After surgery, she moves to Woodlands Nursing Home to recover. She’s eager to go home. Walter Clements, aged 90, has a blackout and crashes his car. He’s in the nursing home as tests have so far failed to reveal the reason for the blackout. He’s keen to go home.
The nursing home is efficiently run with registered nurses and assistants in nursing in attendance. They all speak and understand English. Dementia is apparent but there are no violent residents. There’s CCTV in the common areas for security and health and safety reasons but no family has felt it necessary to install hidden cameras in a bedroom to check if a resident is being abused.
Heather and Walter are gradually introduced to other ‘inmates’ of the home and we learn of their individual eccentricities and foibles.
It’s a busy working environment but a happy one … until the popular night nurse is asked to resign.
Sister Bronwyn has been employed on the night shift for many years. She’s the founder of The Night Owls, an activity group for residents who have difficulty sleeping. When the day shift goes off-duty she collects Queenie, an unofficial night-staff member, from her car. Queenie is an overweight labrador who is loved and spoilt by all residents.
Walter and Heather consider Bronwyn has been unfairly dismissed. They set out to ensure she is reinstated.
The Great Escape from Woodlands Nursing Home is humorous, heart-warming and enjoyable. The author is a GP with a special interest in the elderly and ageing.
Reviewed by Clive Hodges
FROM THE AUTHOR
I have always wanted to be a writer, long before I knew how or had anything to write about. I grew up in a small market town in the middle of England and impatient for books and stories, taught myself to read before I started school.
Recognising the imaginative inner world of their shy daughter, my parents bought me my first typewriter when I was eight. They have kept many of those early stories, most of which were about horses. In primary school, when a teacher tried to dissuade me from becoming a doctor on the basis that it wasn’t an easy career for a girl, I knew that medicine was exactly what I wanted to do when I grew up. But medical school meant swapping the imaginative world of fiction for science fact. Although I remained a voracious reader, it would be many years before I began to write again.
I had a ten pin bowling accident in 2012 and spent weeks lying on my back after a hamstring repair (a story in itself). This led to me realising my decades-old dream of becoming a writer. After completing a number of creative writing courses through the Australian Writers Centre I began writing short stories. Many of which were published or won prizes. I won a riting residency at The Bundanon Trust, awarded by the Fellowship of Australian Writers. This was the perfect place to begin work on what would become my first published novel, The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village.
Although I’m an introvert by nature, attending author events and writers festivals, where I can meet readers and share stories, is one of the most fun and rewarding parts of the writing life.
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