Preview
  • The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village

  • By: Joanna Nell
  • Narrated by: Deidre Rubenstein
  • Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
  • 3.8 out of 5 stars (33 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village

By: Joanna Nell
Narrated by: Deidre Rubenstein
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $18.18

Buy for $18.18

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Joanna Nell's life-affirming debut is a moving, funny, heartwarming tale of love and community in the spirit of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and Grace and Frankie.

The life of 79-year-old pensioner Peggy Smart is as beige as the décor in her retirement village. Her week revolves around aqua aerobics and appointments with her doctor. Following a very minor traffic accident, things have turned frosty with her grown-up children, and she is afraid they are trying to take away her independence. Noticing her memory isn't what it used to be, Peggy is taking ever more inventive steps to cover up her dwindling faculties.

The highlight of Peggy's day is watching her neighbour Brian head out for his morning swim. She dreams of inviting the handsome widower - treasurer of the Residents' Committee and one of the few eligible men in the village - to an intimate dinner. But why would an educated man like Brian, a chartered accountant no less, look twice at Peggy? As a woman of a certain age, she fears she has become invisible, even to men in their 80s.

But a chance encounter with an old school friend she hasn't seen in five decades - the glamorous fashionista Angie Valentine - sets Peggy on an unexpected journey of self-discovery.

©2018 Joanna Nell (P)2018 Hachette Australia Audio
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10
  • 4 Stars
    10
  • 3 Stars
    11
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    14
  • 4 Stars
    9
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    9
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A nice book to motivate oneself

So nicely read! And the plot fills one with hope - not with exuberance maybe, but with that steady hope that allows you to look calmly and positively at your future. There's a lot of inspiration in this book. It's not particularly full of novel ideas, but good for some light reading. Sometimes I got bored, but every time a new problem arose and I wanted to follow it together with the characters, who are all very convincing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Oh My Gosh, She Is Me!

Peggy is me. Right down to the inside-out blouse! I didn't discover mine until I was already at a family get-together at my son and daughter-in-laws home. We've discussed my lack of filter and social faux pas and decided to approach the embarrassing situations with laughter. I must say, so far it's easier for me to laugh at myself than it is for my son and daughter-in-law. I lost interest with the romance angle. I know some ladies still yearn for the attention, my next door neighbor was one of them. I'm not. So, for me, the first half of the book was fun. I pretty much half-listened to the rest. Thank goodness there was no sex.
Was there?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fun and uplifting

Loved the story of seniors having a blast!

I’m going to do it myself before it’s too late!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

ALMOST really good

This novel has lots of good moments -- the main character's spoonerisms are sometimes hilarious, and the juxtaposition of funny-old-lady-spoonerism with more serious flashbacks to her marriage give it a nice texture. But, finally, it becomes a little too sweet. The residents of the retirement village are not all well-drawn, IMHO. The narration is pretty good. I expected more local color, more "this is Australia," but there was very little of that. It's not bad, but it won't be one that I want to hear again and again. (Yes, I reread and relisten.)

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fun

This was a fun book to listen to. It was sad sometimes, but mostly I feel it was about aging without losing your sense of humor

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very entertaining

Thoroughly enjoyed the characters. The feisty ones made me laugh. Portrayed the retirement home atmosphere accurately as well as all the issues a senior/pensioner deals with.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Not for me.

I confess I did not finish this one. The characters seemed one dimensional and the “humour” such as it was, felt clumsy and unnatural. I likely won’t be reading any other books by this author.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!