Late Bloomers is an appropriate name for this family. Suresh and Lata, the parents, stayed together for thirty-five years in an arranged marriage. They had two children who are now grown. The lack of closeness and bonding between the parents also affected the kids. Nobody was close. It wasn’t a family that laughed, shared emotions or secrets with each other. Lata leaves Suresh to find her own way, Suresh turns to online dating, Priya has a married lover, and Nikesh’s family has a secret of their own. This is the coming of age story for an entire family, who haven’t known how to be a family. Culturally interesting but all I felt was sadness for “blooming so late in life.” Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the digital ARC. This review is my own opinion.

There's something inherently brave about starting over, as Deepa Varadarajan explores in her charming debut novel, Late Bloomers. That's what Nikesh thinks of his parents, anyway, watching "the two of them trying to cobble together new lives while other Indian people their age were settling into creaky lawn chairs... reconciling themselves to deadened marriages and eventless retirements." But not Suresh and Lata, who have divorced after 36 years of unhappy marriage. Lata gets her first-ever job at a local university's music library and enjoys living alone in her condo. Suresh turns to online dating, eternally optimistic despite the never-ending lies of "[a]ll these internet women." And while Nikesh finds his father's dating adventures somewhat romantic, his sister, Priya, describes her father's behavior as "post-midlife crisis; act your age; ridiculous; embarrassment."

As the narrative shifts among the quartet's first-person perspectives, readers learn that, of course, neither Nikesh nor Priya have much of a leg to stand on in judging their parents' actions: Nikesh has his own complicated relationship with the mother of his young son, and Priya has been involved with a married man in an affair that has lasted about a year and a half. And neither Suresh nor Lata are quite as happy in their second chances as they pretend to be. All of these secrets come to a head when the four reconvene at the family home for Nikesh's son's first birthday.

Late Bloomers is a novel that celebrates love--and the quest for it--in all of its many varieties: familial, romantic, parental, dutiful, young, old, passionate, passionless. Lata relearns how to have a relationship with Suresh outside the bounds of their less-than-happy marriage and with her children as grown adults. Priya questions her past romantic mistakes and what draws her to an unavailable man. Suresh seeks an escape from himself in any variety, feeling his failures as a "portly, indecisive man, who rarely knew the right things to say, who bungled his first marriage, who loved his children but felt his absentmindedness often bordered on neglect." Nikesh avoids the conflicts in his own career and relationship by burying himself in his role of new father.

Within these deeply complex individuals and the many ways they knock together, Varadarajan offers a novel shaped--but not defined--by the flaws of its characters, a story that peels back their layers as they find their way as individuals and as a family. Late Bloomers, at times laugh-out-loud funny and at times quietly heartbreaking, is an intricate novel about people who rediscover themselves. Or perhaps, by being honest with themselves and with each other, discover themselves for the very first time. --Kerry McHugh, freelance writer, for Shelf Awareness PRO (Tuesday, April 11, 2023)

Shelf Talker: A family of four gets a second chance at self-discovery--as individuals and as a family--following the dissolution of a decades-long unhappy marriage.

Late Bloomers is about relationships - the ones we’re born into, the ones we choose, and even the ones that are chosen for us.

After 36 years of being in an arranged marriage, Lata and Suresh are divorced and learning how to navigate their newly single lives. While Suresh has chosen to go the way of internet dating, Lata is enjoying her new independence when she finds a job at a library and meets a man there.

Meanwhile, their two grown kids have their own relationship problems. Priya’s parents worry about her as a 35 year-old unmarried woman, but what they don’t know would worry them more: she’s dating a married man. On the other end of the spectrum is their son Nikesh who is married and the father of an almost one year-old.. except for one thing. He’s not actually married.

The book follows all four POV which I think was too much for me. There was so much bouncing around that I never felt invested in any of the characters. I liked Lata and Nikesh, and I was ultimately rooting for them. On the other hand, Suresh and Priya were so unlikeable, and I didn’t feel like I saw any growth in either of them.

This book had some funny parts, and I’m sure there is an audience for it; unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me.

d book. It didn't sweep me off my feet, but I did enjoy it. It's told through the POV's of the divorced couple and their adult children. The ex-husband has decided to try internet dating. It doesn't go well, so of course, it's the women's faults. They lied. Hmmm. Lying on dating profiles? Who would have guessed? (sarcasm) If he didn't lie on his, he definitely left out a lot. Like that he is opinionated and given to cynicism.
Meanwhile his wife of 36 years had enough of his nonsense and moved out. She chose a tiny apartment and left him with the big house. She landed a job in the library at the university and discovered her independence. Which involved a new guy. (oh well. Some people have trouble letting a woman live her life without a man)
This leads us to the daughter. Her 'man' is married. Ugh! She is a character that is hard to like, but towards the end of the book, she grows on me.
And then we have the son. He has a new baby. Although the baby's mother has a high powered job, they seem to be balancing everything okay. (or are they?)
A good story with well-developed characters.
#LateBloomers #NetGalley

Approaching 60 years of age, Suresh is shocked when his wife, Lana, files for divorce. We meet them not too long after, when each are trying to figure out how to be single - and debating forays into dating.

As each comes to terms with the ups and downs of their new lives, we find their adult children Priya and Nikesh, have secrets and love drama of their own.

I loved this story - the perspective of the four family members, how they interact, and the memorable people in their lives with their own stories. It's a great soon-to-be-summer read!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for an ARC.

This was a very enjoyable book that didn't read like a debut novel. It is told from the perspective of the main family, Lata, Suresh, Priya, & Nikesh. Lata & Suresh are going through the divorce process after being married 36 years. It was an arranged marriage & Lata decides the time has come for her to move on to something else. She gets a job at a college library & makes friends there, including a gentleman, Len, that wants to ask her out. Suresh starts on-line dating & drives all over the place looking for another Indian woman to take care of him. Priya is dating a married man & trying to figure out what she wants out of her life while dealing with her parents divorce. Nikesh lives in Brooklyn (the rest of the family is in Texas) with his girlfriend & their child, He has told his parents that they're married, but that's a lie. Highly recommend reading this book to see how their stories unfold.

Thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

I really enjoyed this family and its quest for love. Priya and Nikesh's parents had an unsuccessful arranged marriage. They stayed together, but eventually got divorced. Suresh is trying online dating, and driving all over Texas to meet Indian women. Lata finds herself working at a library and navigating singleness as an older adult. Priya, working at a college, is dating a man that is seemingly off limits and Nikesh is living with his partner and son in New York. Hijinks ensue as the family gathers at the family home to celebrate Nikesh's son's first birthday. I really enjoyed this look at this Indian family in Texas and their quest to find and redefine their family again.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley.

Wow, this was such a great read and honestly didn’t read as a debut. I loved Lata and was honestly impressed by her brave decision to chart a new path for herself. If I’m being honest, I didn’t really care too much for Suresh’s chapters. The best way I can describe him is ridiculous and it was hard for me to feel invested in his story.

This read like a family sitcom/dramedy and there were so many laugh out loud moments. This one has all the makings of an instant best seller!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

Review posted to my bookstagram on Monday, April 10, 2023.

Late Bloomers by Deepa Varadarajan was a quick, heartwarming book about an Indian American family navigating the ups and downs of love and life. It has four viewpoints/narrators, so you get everyone's story and perception. I enjoyed this debut novel by Deep Varadarajan and look forward to reading more by this talented author. And that cover is really eye-catchingly cute!

I thoroughly enjoyed this fun book. Told from differing perspectives we learn about Late and Suresh and the aftermath of their divorce after 36 years of marriage. The tow of them along with their grown are trying to navigate what life will be life now that their family unit has broken apart. I found the story to be very realistic. Late and Suresh are a couple in their mid to late 50's who came together in an arranged marriage. As the years went by, instead of coming together, Late and Suresh find that they are not a great match. Never having entered the world of dating, both of them are trying to navigate their relationship with one another as well as their relationships with their grown children They are also trying to navigate the process of dating - a concept that is entirely foreign to them Their daughter Priya and son Nikesh are dealing with their own relationship issues. I was laughing out loud at certain parts. A very fun read.. thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

Interesting story about an Indian family suffering through the divorce of the patriarchs of the family. Each chapter is told from the viewpoint of one of the characters. Characters are relatable. All very likable and you wind up pulling for each one of them.

Is it ever too late to try again to find love?

In Late Bloomers, we meet the four members of the Indian-American Raman family in Texas: Suresh and Lata, the newly divorced parents, and their adult daughter and son, Priya and Nikesh. Suresh is bewildered to find himself alone at the age of 59, and has decided to embrace the modern age and find love on the internet. He is not the most positive person, and has not had much luck; as he tells Nikesh early in the novel, “All these internet women lie, I tell you,”. Suresh himself is only guilty of what he calls RDT’s, reasonable deviations from the truth, while the women he has met have lied about things large (whether or not they have children, what they do for a living) and small (what their favorite food is). But he is determined to be more successful in this endeavor than he was at his marriage, and he forges on. When he meets a lovely young woman named Mallika, he thinks he might just have found a match….until she cancels a date and stops responding to his calls. Lata, who was the one to initiate the divorce, is enjoying her newfound independence. Her marriage had been an arranged affair, and she realized that while Suresh was not a horrible person….he was not abusive, was not an alcoholic, did not cheat on her….she just didn’t like him much at all. After 36 years of altering her behaviors to suit him, and making apologies to their friends for his gloomy behavior, she had had enough. She has her own apartment, has a job working at the music library of a local college, and is rediscovering the person that she was before her marriage. So when, much to her surprise, a library patron and professor of the history of jazz named Len Greenberg displays interest in getting to know her better, she isn’t sure that she wants to pursue things. When she told him that she had never listened to jazz,, he burns her a CD of classic jazz songs, and later invites her to join him at a jazz concert. She loves the music on her CD, and with the encouragement of her young co-worker Deanna, she thinks she might just have her first real date after all. Priya is not at all happy in her life. She is teaching history at a small college in Austin, where she is not sure she will get tenure or even have her contract renewed, given declining enrollments. Much to her parents’ chagrin, she is unmarried at the age of 35, and her current romantic relationship is with a married man….which means that she comes up short when compared to her brother Nikesh, a successful lawyer living in NYC with his wife Denise and their baby son. She is beyond mortified that her father is scouring the internet for love, and has let him know of her feelings in no uncertain terms. When she discovers that her lover’s marriage is not in fact on the verge of ending, and he is not likely to leave his wife for her after all, she retreats to her mother’s apartment to reevaluate her life. Nikesh, who seems to have it all, is also not in a happy place in his life. He doesn’t actually enjoy his job all that much, and parenthood has put a strain on his relationship with Denise. They are both exhausted and stressed, and have no time for one another. He loves their son Alok dearly, but family life is not going well. He hopes that having the three of them fly out to Texas to celebrate Alok’s first birthday with his family (who don’t really care for Denise, nor does she like them much) will make things better all around….but it might just be the last straw for Denise.
The story of these four people, stymied in their search for love and happiness, is told with sympathy and more than a little humor. The horror of children contemplating the romantic life of their parents is something with which many of us can sympathize. The unintended competition between siblings, the unwarranted jealousy when a former partner seems to have succeeded in moving on, and the reality of what goes on behind the facade of people living the perfect life are common life experiences to most people. How these four lives collide, at what is either the worst possible time (can you imagine summoning the courage to go out on a date for the first time in your fifties, and then having your daughter move in?) or the best possible time, and how each person deals with the obstacles and choices that confront them make for an engaging and worthwhile read. The differences between immigrant parents and their American-born children extends beyond the Indian culture described in Late Bloomers, so this book would appeal to many readers. Fans of Soniah Kamal and Sonali Devi will find this novel of interest, as would those who enjoy Imbolo Mbue and Jean Kwok. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for allowing me access to an advanced reader’s copy.

Late Bloomers is the story of a family, that after 30 years of marriage, the parents decide to divorce. It affects the whole family, and the story tells what they each went through when it happened, and what they went through after the divorce.
There were struggles for them all, misunderstandings, and as they each struggled to figure out where they go from here, we see how hard it was for them. They each have to decide for themselves what is going to happen, and sometimes it is a rollercoaster ride of emotions. It is a difficult path trying to find themselves again, and become who they will become. Divorce is a loss that changes who you were, who you are and who you will become.
I received an ARC from Random House Publishing Group through NetGalley.

Late Bloomers explores the members of a family and how they relate to each other and their respective relationships and struggles.
Suresh and Lata had an arranged marriages and recently divorced after decades of marriage and both are now on the dating scene again, which is full of weird people and not what either of them expected to be doing at this point in life, but here they are. Suresh is meeting women through dating websites, and meets Malika, who ends up coming to stay with him and bringing her son when she has no where else to go, despite them only having been on one date.
Their daughter Priya is dating a married man and their son has had a child but isn’t married, although he told his parents that they were married and told his girlfriend that he told his parents that they weren’t.
All around, there’s a lack of communication, loads of judgment, and a need for understanding.
I liked the writing style but the characters were hard to like. I think that was intentional, though. And maybe it could have been a little shorter.
Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

A South Asian (Indian) debut writer talking about middle aged immigrants starting fresh in the US of A/ Sign me up for a ARC. Thank you net Galley for my advance copy in exchange of a honest review.

Deepa Varadarajan has written a nuanced, thoughtful story about second chances. I found myself rooting for all the characters in the story except Suresh probably. Different cultures, perspectives and generational viewpoints made this a great read. I look forward to reading more from this author.

I found Late Bloomers by Deepa Varadarajan to have a slow start, but in the end, it was fairly readable. The writing was good, but for me, the book's issue was that I didn't find a single character likeable. That made it a bit tougher to appreciate. As a first-time novelist, I would be interested to see more from Varadarajan in the future. Two and a half stars. Solid, just not my cup of tea.

*I received an advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I loved the family dynamic, the struggles of being 'other' in America - even for the children - and in particular the final scene that turned the whole thing into a French farce.

Warm and sweet debut about a family figuring how to navigate their days and their relationships following the divorce of the parents and the chaotic and messy lives of their grown children.

Late Bloomers is the story of the Raman family - an Indian family comprised of a mother, father, adult daughter, and adult son. Except the mother and father have separated in their middle age and the adult childrens' personal lives are a complicated mess. The set-up sounds like it should be miserable, and yet the story absolutely sparkles. It's full of joy and love and quiet contemplation and insights so relatable that I found myself highlighting so many passages!

The story is told through multiple perspectives and the author does an absolutely incredible job of distinguishing each character by little idiosyncrasies in their voice and insights into their way of seeing the world. It's character-driven, and you find yourself really rooting for each of protagonists and not wanting to leave them behind once you close the book.

Just a radiant and delicious little slice of life read. Highly recommend!

Late Bloomers is a debut novel about an Indian American family. It begins with parents who have divorced after over thirty years of marriage, and is told in alternating points of view between each of the four family members: Suresh, the grumpy father who is determined to make on-line dating work; Lata, the mother who is exploring her newfound independence; and Priya and Nikesh, their grown children – who have complicated lives of their own.

This was a pleasant story of a family learning each other’s secrets, accepting each other’s flaws, and moving on in their lives. The story takes place over only three weeks, which seemed a little rushed to me. On the other hand, everything isn’t wrapped up neatly at the end.

I received an ARC from Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.