Review: The Great Escape from Woodlands Nursing Home
Gaby Meares
[a:Joanna Nell|18061662|Joanna Nell|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1531896805p2/18061662.jpg] has done it again. I loved [b:The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village|44182122|The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village|Joanna Nell|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|62458297], but I adored TGEFWNH! Every character seems real - they really do jump from the page and I could see them all as clear as day.
Hattie Bloom (Miss Bloom, thank you very much!) finds herself ensconced in a ‘room with a view’ in the Woodlands Nursing Home after breaking her hip. She is ferociously independent, preferring the company of birds to that of humans, whose behaviour she finds baffling. She is counting down the days to when she can return to the tranquility of her beloved home.
Walter Clements lives in the room next door. He loves dad jokes, whisky and his best mate Murray who is now bedridden. He can’t wait to pass his ‘driving test’ for a mobility scooter so he can return to his home.
Nell deftly tells the story of how these two unlikely allies become co-conspirators in a plan to help Murray return to his beloved wife and garden one more time. Along the way we learn about their lives, and the lives of other residents of the nursing home. It’s so easy to dismiss the elderly, forgetting that they have lived all sorts of lives - some ordinary, some extraordinary.
So many issues regarding how we treat our older community members are touched upon. From the over-zealous children who infantilize their parents, to the over-use of medication to ‘help’ residents sleep through the night, Nell uses her experience as a GP to explore how we can better provide stimulating and caring environments for our seniors.
I found this book incredibly poignant and moving. It made me laugh, and it brought me to tears. I really cannot recommend it enough. It’s an absolute gem.