The World of Willowbrook
LIVE THE LIFE YOU HAVE ALWAYS WANTED!
Willowbrook Lifestyle Village – private, independent living at its best.
Desirable, carefree lifestyle for the over 55s in the heart of the North Island. Superb central location, nestled by the picturesque Willowbrook River, close to the charming country town of Willowbridge – five minutes’ drive, fifteen minutes’ cycle or thirty minutes’ walk.
Choose your own spacious and airy cottage design, each with single garage, private entrance and wrap-around veranda. Solar heating, double glazing, air conditioning and the latest high-end appliances are all yours to enjoy.
High quality facilities throughout. Our clubhouse, The Nest, is fully equipped with large lounge, cinema, TV room, library, kitchen, gym, workshop, craft room, paved BBQ area and more.
Wander at will through the wide open areas with beautifully landscaped gardens, or get together with your new friends for a game of petanque, darts, table tennis or billiards.
Venture out on to the many specially designed cycle ways and walking paths alongside the river and leading out into the countryside.
Bring your pets and your motor home, campervan, caravan or boat – there is plenty of secure parking and extra storage sheds are available.
Make new friends in a vibrant community of like-minded people.
Our lively social group, Willowbrook Club, offers countless opportunities to get together, go on trips and do and see things you only ever dreamed of before.
SO MUCH TO GAIN! ENQUIRE NOW!
About the author
Anne Harding is a writer, researcher, amateur historian, editor, proofreader and keeper of one husband and two cats. Now retired from a long career in finance and administration, she lives in a small settlement near the beautiful town of Cambridge, in the heart of New Zealand’s Waikato district. Willowbrook is her first published novel, and she is already working on the first of many sequels.
Books
Willowbrook
Eddie Marchant, a former Detective Senior Sergeant in the NZ Police’s Financial Intelligence Unit, and his wife Liz move to Willowbrook, a brand new lifestyle village for over 55s nestled in the heart of New Zealand’s North Island. As they settle into village life, they encounter a colourful cast of characters: Millie, the self-proclaimed ‘Mayoress’; Coralie, a former Medécins sans Frontières nurse seeking peace and companionship; Herschel, a computer nerd immersed in artificial intelligence; Douglas, a former CEO abandoned by his scheming ex-wife; Ruth and Aidan, former missionaries grappling with the aftermath of a financial scandal; and the enigmatic Miss Muckle with her unsightly dog, Smooch. She seems to be just a mildly batty old woman with strange habits, but appearances can be deceptive.
Reviews
Anne Harding skilfully captures the complexities of life in a lifestyle village, where the transition to higher-density living within a narrower demographic profoundly shapes the residents' experiences. The book delves into the impacts of this environment, revealing how closer quarters foster both camaraderie and conflict among neighbours. Harding paints a vivid picture of the social dynamics, where the joys of shared activities are often juxtaposed with the inevitable frictions that arise when privacy is limited and personalities clash. What truly sets this book apart is the author's ability to explore the themes of aging and neurological decline with a delicate balance of empathy and humour. The portrayal of residents grappling with these challenges is both poignant and relatable, allowing readers to connect deeply with the characters. Harding’s use of humour adds a lightness that makes the subject matter more accessible, while still honouring the emotional weight of the residents' journeys. The storyline is engaging throughout, with well-paced developments that keep the reader invested in the ups and downs of village life.
Willowbrook’s exploration of community, aging, and resilience makes it a compelling read that resonates long after the final page.
Sarah Turpitt
VILLAGE MANAGER
CAMBRIDGE OAKS LIFESTYLE VILLAGE
Cast of characters
LIZ MARCHANT (mid 60s)
Beneath a calm and efficient exterior, Liz is somewhat vulnerable and lacking in self-confidence. Past experiences have made her very wary of trusting others, except for her Eddie. Eddie is her rock and she is still just as much in love with him now as she was at the beginning, more than forty-five years ago. Liz longs to be useful. She is very empathetic and caring, but is completely unable to put that into action in any meaningful way, which tears her in two and makes her feel worthless. She would love to make some real friends in Willowbrook, but can she overcome her deep fear of relationships going wrong?
EDDIE MARCHANT (mid 60s)
Eddie is one of the good guys. Semi-retired after a long and exemplary career with the NZ Police Financial Intelligence Unit, he still has his hand in as a part-time Behavioural Consultant, advising on particular cases and using his many contacts to help with particularly tricky cases. He adores his wife Liz, and will do anything for her. He gives the appearance of being affable and accommodating, but is ever alert and watchful. He rarely shows emotion, except perhaps when it comes to protecting his family.
MILLIE OVALTON (early 70s)
Self-appointed ‘mayoress’ of Willowbrook, Millie is loud, flamboyant and forceful. She can bend pretty much anyone to her iron will, conscripting both Liz and Bronwyn into pivotal roles within the Willowbrook Club as soon as they move in. She knows everything that is going on in the village, including most people’s past history, but is careful never to completely overstep the mark where gossip is concerned. She is at her best when directing and overseeing. She is a creator and leader, never a follower, but when events happen that start to chip away at her carefully constructed outward persona, she has to work very hard to stop the image she has worked so hard to construct from shattering.
LAURENCE OVALTON (mid 70s)
Married to a somewhat overbearing Millie, Laurence craves separation from her, although he does appreciate her wonderful cooking and how well she takes care of his clothing. Laurence is a serial adulterer and finds plenty of opportunity to indulge this amongst the single ladies in Willowbrook. He knows Millie doesn’t care, and even subtly encourages it, but deep down, would he really rather be a one-woman man?
HERSCHEL MCMANUS (mid 60s)
A retired software developer, Herschel has worked all round the world, but has chosen Willowbrook as the ideal place to pursue his retirement hobby, building a child-sized artificial intelligence robot. Being a bit ‘different’, he has never pursued any relationships, but because of his kindness and willingness to help others, he finds himself inundated with women wanting to feed him, clean for him and generally look after him. Unsure as to how to cope with this, he retreats further into the world of Aunt Sally, his absorbing project.
CORALIE EVANS (mid 60s)
As a nurse of more than forty years, Coralie has seen it all. She has worked for the mega rich, and in war-torn and disaster zones, supporting the work of Médecins sans Frontières. Now it is time to sit back and relax, maybe find someone to share the rest of her life with. She is very attracted to Douglas Hamilton, but her new friends think she can do much better than him.
BRONWYN APPLEBY (early 70s)
Bronwyn is full of bitterness after a long, hard life of disappointment and let downs. Her husband left her because she was too boring. Her children left and don’t contact her because she is too uncaring. She is plain, plump and unloved. She sees herself as a fat, ugly, smelly old woman, and believes she has a terminal illness. But a burning desire to destroy Douglas Hamilton keeps her going, and as she gets more involved in the Willowbrook Club, she finds she is not quite as alone as she thinks.
DOUGLAS HAMILTON (late 60s)
A child of wealth and privilege, Douglas is the retired CEO of National Creamery Co-op, a position he achieved by climbing the corporate ladder on the rungs of old school chums who gave him glowing references to get him out of their companies so he could become someone else’s problem. Once his usefulness came to an end with retirement, his wife Gwen swiftly divorced him and installed him at Willowbrook, enabling her to establish herself in a spacious and comfortable apartment in Auckland’s prestigious Mission Bay. Douglas isn’t quite sure how this all came about, and he is missing the home comforts he has always been accustomed to, as well as his fellow old boys’ network, the Old Willies. But he has his lifetime interest in making money from disreputable schemes to keep him going.
MISS MUCKLE (early 70s)
Retired Professor of Sociology, Southern University. MA (Southern); PhD (Southern). Her real name is Miriam Hardacre, but she is known in the village as Miss Muckle, an unpleasant busybody of a gossip who seems to know everybody’s business. She is devoted to her very ugly dog, Smooch, but her past remains a mystery. Her round torso brings to mind a toffee apple on a stick, but with her vast shelf of a bosom pulling her down, her little skinny legs darting here, there and everywhere, her long nose pointing downwards, she resembles nothing less than a curious, plump pigeon, pecking around for the next tasty morsel.
AIDAN AND RUTH PALMER (late 60s)
Aidan and Ruth met on a kibbutz in Israel in the 1970s and have been missionaries all their lives. But when a massive financial scandal broke over Worldwide Christian Aid, their work in Indonesia came to an abrupt end and they found themselves cut off with no money or means of support. Their son David rescued them and purchased a cottage at Willowbrook, providing ongoing support for them. They find it hard to adjust to a completely alien life, particularly Ruth, who becomes increasingly disconnected from reality.
HAZEL AND HENRY MATTHEWS (early 70s)
Renowned artist Hazel is a bit of a bully, so everyone thinks. Stick thin, she does her own thing, taking off in her motor home whenever she feels like it with her beloved little Cairns terrier, Raffles, but leaving husband Henry behind. Henry doesn’t seem to mind – he is completely lost in the fantasy world of Lord of the Rings, happily acting out role plays, bouncing with cheerfulness and turning up to most social events in the village. He adores Hazel, singing her praises to anyone who will listen.
JEFFREY, NADINE, NICK AND MAIA MARCHANT (mid 40s and mid-late teens)
Jeffrey and Nadine have bought a funeral directors’ business with financial help from Jeff’s parents Eddie and Liz. They are putting all their time and energy into it, and seem to have little left over to spare for their teenaged daughter, Maia, who feels unloved and neglected. Nick, the golden child, is made much of because of his supposed talent on the rugby field, and a chance of getting into the Junior All Blacks.
SHERYL BROGAN AND BEVAN EVANS, Village Management
Sheryl, loud and brash and somewhat uninterested in her work, is the Manager for Willowbrook Lifestyle Village, reporting directly to the unknown and unseen company director, M Hardacre. Her assistant, Bevan, is much more hands-on, the residents mostly loving his sunny personality, rainbow hair and multiple piercings.
Pets
