Late Bloomers

A Novel

By: Deepa Varadarajan

Narrated by: Vikas Adam, Deepa Samuel, Shahjehan Khan, Mehr Dudeja

An Indian American family is turned upside down when the parents split up thirty-six years into their arranged marriage​ in this “heartwarming journey of self-discovery” (Southern Living).

“Touching . . . both funny and moving—a family drama the entire family can enjoy.”—Reader’s Digest

A REAL SIMPLE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • LILLY’S LIBRARY PICK

"I have a soft spot for underdogs. And late bloomers. You’ve told me a lot of things about yourself, so let me tell you something about me."

After thirty-six years of a dutiful but unhappy arranged marriage, recently divorced Suresh and Lata Raman find themselves starting new paths in life. Suresh is trying to navigate the world of online dating on a website that caters to Indians and is striking out at every turn—until he meets a mysterious, devastatingly attractive younger woman who seems to be smitten with him. Lata is enjoying her newfound independence, but she's caught off guard when a professor in his early sixties starts to flirt with her.

Meanwhile, Suresh and Lata's daughter, Priya, thinks her father's online pursuits are distasteful even as she embarks upon a clandestine affair of her own. And their son, Nikesh, pretends at a seemingly perfect marriage with his law-firm colleague and their young son, but hides the truth of what his relationship really entails. Over the course of three weeks in August, the whole family will uncover one another's secrets, confront the limits of love and loyalty, and explore life's second chances.

Charming, funny, and moving, Late Bloomers introduces a delightful new voice in fiction with the story of four individuals trying to understand how to be happy in their own lives—and as a family.

Wonderful story, great plot, talented writing

This was a thoroughly enjoyable read, the plot moved along quickly, the characters were well fleshed out, and the story held my interest from beginning to end.

I liked the writing, the situations were realistic, and after a while I felt close to many of the characters, cared about what happened to them. The ways in which their lives moved was realistic and at times kind of funny. The things they feel and go through are things everyone feels, and goes through - conflict, jealousy, embarrassment, regular complicated human dynamics.

A note about the narration: While several narrators did a very good job, there were one or two who were unbearable. Specifically the voice of Lata was read in an exaggeratedly hesitant, stammering, over-dramatic, self-doubting, melodramatic way, portraying her as a one-dimensional slow-talking hyper angst-filled woman. The narrator is probably very talented and perhaps was instructed to read that character in the voice of an over eager eight-year-old auditioning for a third grade play. The father’s voice was hard to listen to as well, it was one ceaseless overreaction after another, also over-acted, explosive, overdramatic, over emotive. A few other voices were annoying and overdone, but overall I appreciated the story and the other characters’ narration.

Great debut novel!!!

With a storyline that made for an enjoyable and relaxing listen, this book was exactly what I was looking for. It is a story about the complexities of family told with humor and hope. I’m looking forward to more novels by Deepa Varadarajan!

Loved it!

Loved listening to every second of this book. The characters were witty, yet complicated and well developed. I really enjoyed listening to the different voices of each character.

How similar families all are no matter the culture

I loved it- the character dialogues were so heart touching and funny. The plot twists and engaged you for an imaginative climax.

Wonderful!

Loved loved this book! One of the funniest, warmest and most poignant works I’ve read in a long time. I laughed out loud and occasionally shed a tear. Bravo! I can’t wait to read more works from this author.