The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village in Aussie Readers

Sep 20, 2018 Helen rated it it was amazing

This is such a great story it is funny, moving, emotional and so very heart-warming, make yourself comfortable for this one while you enjoy meeting the lovey seventy nine year old Peggy Smart and the highs and lows of living in a retirement village and aging with decorum and aplomb as best she can.

Peggy is widowed, she has two children David who is married to Mel they have two children Sam and Emily and Jenny who lives with her girlfriend and the alpacas, Peggy lives alone with her dog Basil, he This is such a great story it is funny, moving, emotional and so very heart-warming, make yourself comfortable for this one while you enjoy meeting the lovey seventy nine year old Peggy Smart and the highs and lows of living in a retirement village and aging with decorum and aplomb as best she can.

Peggy is widowed, she has two children David who is married to Mel they have two children Sam and Emily and Jenny who lives with her girlfriend and the alpacas, Peggy lives alone with her dog Basil, her little old man, yes she can be forgetful but the Webster’s pill packaging does help her with the days of the week, as does her colour co-ordinated calendar, she also loves checking one of the neighbours out, that would be Brian retired chartered accountant and treasurer of the residents committee the man that Peggy dreams of inviting for dinner one day, yes life is good for Peggy, but then Angie Valentine moves into the village and Peggy’s life is going to improve maybe?

Peggy and Angie met when they were eight years old, they went to school together and worked together for some time but Angie was always the out spoken one the one to go for what she wanted never lost for words and she went onto travel the world with her job and Peggy married Ted and settled down and now Angie is still the beautiful, vibrant person she was and she steps in to improve Peggy’s life but Peggy is unsure about all of this and worries a little. Meeting up with Peggy again for Angie was what she had wanted there is a secret that needs to be told and Angie will do anything for her friend Peggy

This one had me laughing out loud with tears running down my face as Peggy gets herself into a few scrapes but Angie is there and when the tables are turned Peggy is there for Angie. This is a beautifully written story with all of the emotional feels that will keep you turning the pages, the characters are rich, vibrant and alive, truly there is much laughter and there are tears as this journey of friendship and aging gracefully with fun, it is never too late to find love and enjoy life. This a must read. A story that I highly recommend, huge congratulations on a fabulous debut and I look forward to many more books from MS Nell. ...more

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Jan 21, 2020 Kate Forsyth rated it really liked it

Shelves: contemporary, aww2019, australian-author

Tired, over-worked, and under-appreciated, I was facing a pre-dawn flight down to Melbourne and wanted something to read that would help brighten my day. I reached for The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village by Joanna Nell, which has the tagline ‘a moving, funny, heart-warming tale of love and community.’ It sounded perfect. And it was perfect! I was chuckling to myself even before the plane’s wheels had left the tarmac.

Peggy Smart is 79½. She lives at the Jacaranda Retirement Village ...more

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Oct 04, 2018 Bree T rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: australian, arc, women-s-fiction

This is probably not something I’d have chosen to pick up without receiving it for review. Peggy is around my grandmother’s age, both are 80-odd. One actually lives in a retirement village that sounds quite similar to the one Peggy lives in, the other still lives in the home she and my grandfather retired in, although she’s on her own now. My parents face challenges with both their mothers – my dad’s mother, the one in the retirement village is coming to a time where she’s no longer able to live This is probably not something I’d have chosen to pick up without receiving it for review. Peggy is around my grandmother’s age, both are 80-odd. One actually lives in a retirement village that sounds quite similar to the one Peggy lives in, the other still lives in the home she and my grandfather retired in, although she’s on her own now. My parents face challenges with both their mothers – my dad’s mother, the one in the retirement village is coming to a time where she’s no longer able to live independently. She’s forgetting if she’s eaten, she’s forgetting to take her medication, she doesn’t turn the gas off when she’s finished. Dad has to make that call that she’s going to need more assistance to keep her health. And my mother is at the stage where she devotes several days a week to my grandmother’s needs and care that enable her to continue to live in her own home. Both my parents are actively involved in the lives of their mothers, from taking them shopping or to doctor’s appointments or just spending scheduled time with them each week. I live interstate now but whenever I visit, I make sure to spend decent time with both, ensuring that my kids are part of their worlds.

That seems to be something that’s quite missing from Peggy’s world. Her children are both grown with their own lives – at one stage Peggy was minding her grandchildren so that her daughter-in-law could return to work but it seemed to escalate to the point where it was too much for her. When she mentioned that she might like to cut back a bit, it was withdrawn completely and now it seems that Peggy operates her life a bit on the outer from her children, who swoop in to check on her level of senility and attempt to make decisions for her without actually listening to or observing her in her environment. I understand from what my dad is going through that it’s actually quite hard to have to make that call and he’s doing it with the discussion and input from my grandmother.

Peggy is a widow, still missing the companionship and presence of her husband but she’s not dead yet so her eye has landed on Brian, a handsome and pleasant widower who also resides in the retirement village. It seems that Brian is a bit of a hot commodity and Peggy doesn’t rate her chances. She sees herself as unglamorous and frumpy and when Angie Valentine, a childhood friend of Peggy’s arrives looking incredibly well preserved and confident, Peggy is even more downhearted. Angie seems determined to rekindle their friendship and takes it upon herself to also give Peggy a makeover, teaching her how to dress for her shape. On one hand, I quite liked the dynamic between Peggy and Angie. They were very different and had lived very different lives – Peggy having been married to pretty much her only boyfriend for over 50 years and Angie having been married four times. Angie does encourage Peggy to get out there, to do a bit more, enjoy life a bit more as well. Which is good, because although she has her medical issues (doesn’t everyone who gets to 80?) Peggy is still remarkably healthy and capable of living a fulfilling life, something that her children definitely need to realise.

However, and this is kind of a big thing, the way the story actually went with Angie……I didn’t like it. It wasn’t for me. I thought it was just a bit…..cruel, actually, that Angie would come back for that particular reason and there was also a bit of a cop out with one of the main characters involved no longer around and not able to give their side of the story. Also Peggy took the entire thing remarkably well pretty much immediately which didn’t really wash so much with me. I guess when you’re 80 there’s no point holding a grudge but honestly, a bit more internal debate probably would’ve been a bit more realistic, for me anyway. I just really didn’t enjoy this whole portion of the book and it seemed a bit out of step with the rest of it. It also seemed a long time to be revealed and is all dealt with quite swiftly, which threw off the pacing a bit for me.

Overall I did enjoy most of this book but I didn’t fall in love with it. It was quite sweet and I appreciated the insight into an older protagonist and the challenges they face with maintaining independent life and their health. But I can’t ignore that I didn’t like the second part of the book.

***A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for the purpose of an honest review*** ...more

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Oct 29, 2020 Kathryn rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, owned, australian-authors, 2020-reading-list

3.5★
I mostly enjoyed this, and for about the first half of the book, I really enjoyed it. After that, I did find Peggy's malapropisms started to wear a little thin, as did her continual swooning over Brian! And I had more sympathy with her children, who were understandably (in my opinion) concerned about their mother, than I did with Peggy. Toward the end of the book, someone describes her as "an independent, modern woman", but I can't say I saw that in her!! I saw an over-anxious, over-compensa ...more

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Dec 24, 2021 Catsalive rated it really liked it

Shelves: aww, 2021

This is a cosy read & I enjoyed the experience. I kept thinking I was in England & then being jolted back to Australia - Joanna Nell's roots are showing. There were a few irritants, but it was generally an easy, relaxing read.
https://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/... ...more

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May 26, 2020 Dee-Ann rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: humour, australian-authors, warm-fuzzy, five-star, romance, strong-women, elderly-main-character, friendship

Enjoyed this book and ended up creating two new bookshelf tags for it … 'elderly main character' (which I am sure there is a more politically correct tag, and 'friendship' (really don't know why I did not have this tag before. Loved Peggy … laughed, cried, cringed and admired. It has been cool lately and have been drinking lots of tea … and can really sympathise with the bladder saga. It was interesting to see how, even at 79 years of age, she is still influenced by what happened in her childhoo ...more

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Dec 30, 2019 Tianne Shaw rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Friendship that lasts the decades and recollects it’s meaning in the twilight years. Enjoy the Jacaranda Retirement Village with it’s wild antics and othe adventures.

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