Bloomer by Carol Lefevre

It is daunting to grow old in a time and place that does not value old people, but the age group known as Boomers should not be so easily dismissed. They marched against the Vietnam War and were the first generation to be liberated by the contraceptive pill from the fear of unwanted pregnancy. Their teenage years were fuelled by protest songs and peace-and-love idealism, and many are still engaged in forms of activism.

Framed by the turning of the seasons in her small suburban garden, Carol Lefevre’s Bloomer documents the year in which she turned seventy. Memoir threads through meditations on aspects of ageing, from its hidden grief and potential for loneliness to our relationship with the past and with our own mortality.

In this gorgeous, optimistic and eloquent coming-of-old-age book, Boomers emerge as Bloomers – people not at the end of things but still on their way, ready to embrace a late-life flourishing.

A gorgeous, optimistic and eloquent coming-of-old-age book for anyone who wants to embrace a late-life flourishing.

About the Author: Carol Lefevre has published eight books, as well as short fiction, essays and journalism. Her novella Murmurations was shortlisted for the 2021 Christina Stead Prize for Fiction in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, and the Fiction Prize in the 2022 South Australian Festival Awards for Literature. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Adelaide, where she is a visiting research fellow. She lives in Adelaide, where she tends a small garden of fruit trees, roses and herbs.

25 Mar 2025

Bloomer: Embracing a late-life flourishing by Carol Lefevre ISBN 9781923293038