This debut novel by Deepa Varadarajan was such a fun read! I could not put it down. If you enjoyed the movie Crazy Stupid Love, this is a must read. This multigenerational family drama is full of twisty, hilarious surprises and there were actually times I shocked myself by laughing out loud. The brutal honesty of online dating, arranged marriage, navigating cultural and familial expectations, and relationships between parents and their grown children are just a few of the issues that are treated in a silly, relatable, and down-to-earth way.

I loved the Indian culture woven throughout the story and appreciated the way that cultural differences were explored through the four different family member's perspectives. A huge extra bonus in this story is the amazing Indian cuisine that Lata and Mallika make throughout the story. I couldn't help but highlight all of the delicious foods, no doubt fueling an indulgent order (at the top of which will be samosas) for our next Indian take out night.

Thank you so much, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group, for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Late Bloomers is an excellent debut novel by Deepa Varadarajan. The story follows the Ramans, an Indian American family as they attempt to navigate a huge upheaval in their family dynamics. Suresh and Lata had an arranged marriage and now, after 36 years and raising two children, they have broken away from cultural norms and have divorced. What follows is a gripping tale of the fallout from this decision and how it affects both them and Priya and Nikesh, their grown children. Suresh is trying to navigate the online dating scene, Lata is looking for herself after being stuck in an unhappy marriage for so long, and Priya and Nikesh are also both dealing with challenges and uncertainties in their own lives and relationships.

I found all of the characters in this book to be well developed and realistically portrayed. I felt their pain, laughed with them, and cringed at some of their decisions. So many times I wanted to both shake some sense into them and offer them a big hug and reassure them that everything would be alright.

Overall, a very moving and delightful story of family and second chances.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for sending me an advance copy of this book for review consideration.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group this Advanced Reader Copy, in exchange for my honest review.

Late Bloomers is the story of an Indian-American family and the aftermath and daily lives when the parents, Suresh and Lata, divorce after 36 years. The story is a heart-warming and dryly humorous story, about family and relationships. The story is told from four perspectives of the family, including the adult children, Priya and Nikesh. The stories are individual but all connecting, as the individual family members navigate through the chaos of life; online dating after divorce, co-parenting, relationships with someone married. And realizing that family may be the people that you know the least about.

All the characters were likeable and flawed, in the best way. There is a great supporting cast who adds to this quirky gem.

I particularly enjoyed reading a book about an Indian-American family and learning about the cultural aspects of family.

Rated 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Authentic and entertaining!
I loved it from the start, we discover this family from the point of view of the newly divorced Indian father and it's a very fresh point of view. What I also loved about this book is how it can speak to everyone: the sixty something looking for a second chance, the adults kids worried for their parents, the newly parents that discover that as a parent you can (and probably are) still a little lost.... The writing was very good too ! So without a doubt a five stars !! Very well done !
Thank you very much Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

In Late Bloomers, Shuresh is the Patriarch of a rather traditional Indian family, his own marriage to Lata having been an arranged one. Married over 30 years, Lata decides she has had enough of ebullient Shuresh's negativity and curmudgeonly behavior and divorces him. This is a beautifully written, bittersweet tale by Deepa Varadarajan, of the trials and tribulations of this family, navigating their lives and loves with twists and turns and abandoning what they think they "should be" to discover who they actually are. Shuresh is deep into the world of internet dating, but really just wants to be reunited with Lata. Lata finds herself a job for the first time in her life and is overwhelmed with fear when she realizes she is the object of a college professor's admiration and attention. There is great attention to detail to the lives of their children and friends, and they all seem to come to the conclusion that "You have to appreciate what you have and take care of the people in your life. Unselfishness -- that's the key to happiness." I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the careful development of each of the characters in the storyline.

Very nice, well written novel. I enjoyed it and would read more from this writer. I don't often give a 5 star rating, but this one deserves it. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Late Bloomers is a delightful and thoughtful family story focused on parents Suresh and Lata, newly divorced after a 40+ year marriage, and their two adult children both stumbling with their own 30-something issues. Each main character has a distinct voice and engaging arc. By its satisfying conclusion, all four main characters are finally and separately 'blooming', having navigated challenges and experienced believable emotional growth.

In Late Bloomers, author Deepa Varadarajan has delivered a layered and relatable story filled with nuanced characters and terrific dialogue.

Fun, interesting, and inoffensive. Divorce splits an Indian arranged marriage couple and they each get to explore the modern (and Western) world of dating and the accompanying internal culture clashes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

One of the themes of this story is growth and change and the journey that both of those can take us on as we get older. An issue that I had with this story was, I felt like by the end, even though a lot of character growth had occurred, the characters were still blaming their own shortcomings on those around them so I had wished to see more evident growth in that regard.

Late Bloomers is the heart-warming and funny story of Suresh and Lata Raman, an Indian-American couple who divorce after over thirty years of an arranged marriage. As they navigate the new world of online dating for Suresh and a new suitor for Lata, they are both surprised and unsure about their new lives apart. Meanwhile, their adult children are harboring their own doubts about the lives they are living as well as worry about their parents. It is a truly engaging and satisfying read.

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for providing this advance copy for me to read and review.

Late Bloomers is a delightful debut novel by Deepa Varadarajan. Suresh and Lata Raman have recently divorced after 36 years of marriage. As was trypical at the time,for young Indian couples, theirs was an arranged marriage; they barely knew one another on their wedding day. Lata, a recent college graduate, set aside her hopes and dreams to become a traditional wife. Their years together were not all bad, there were happy times and they had 2 wonderful children, Praia, a historian, and Nikesh, an attorney. This story of change is told from the perspective of those 4 major characters.
Suresh, is sad about the divorce, yet is exploring the world of internet dating. That world definitely holds some surprisesfor him. Lata is working in a college library, happy to be on her own and independent for the first time. Nearing 60, she occasionally wonders if there will ever be romance in her life again. She's never been on a "real date." Pryia, is teaching at an Austin college, and is involved with a married man. Is this the life she envisioned or wants? Nikesh is an attorney in a Brooklyn law firm. He and the woman he is involved with have had a child, and are learning to cope with all of the challenges a baby presents.
I thoroughly enjoyed Late Bloomers, there were times I laughed out loud, and others when I could feel the character's emotions. It is about family, traditions, the courage to start anew and of course the tie that binds, love. I highly recommend Late Bloomers.

I really enjoy reading books about family development, especially ones from a different culture. I enjoyed the immersion and the adventure we got from this family. They seemed so well put together, but every family has their flaws. The characters were uniquely themselves through the whole story and it was great to see how they build this family structure. We see that in their actions and also in the way they were treating each other through the book.

I really enjoyed the plot of this book and the turns that it did take. I did feel that the ending was a lot, but it really did bring the book together. I was able to slide into this book very easily. It was entertaining and very life-like. It just felt so relatable and I can recommend that to so many people!

4/5 stars for the folks who love family, post-divorce life, new beginnings, and life's adventures!

**Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free review copy! I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I would like to say that I enjoyed Late Bloomers by Veepa Daradarajan, but I can’t honestly say that I did, though it was well written and the characters were multi dimensional. That said, I didn’t like a couple of them at all and the others were only okay, maybe a bit too wishy-washy. I had a hard time getting into the book and never felt truly immersed in it. The book was told from four different points of view, which was interesting but not enough to really hold my interest. The book was touted as being funny on some levels but, for the most part, I thought it was depressing. Two stars.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions stated are solely my own.

This book is wonderfully messy. The characters are messy, their lives are messy, and they all know it.

The idea of a couple who had been in an arranged marriage divorcing after 30+ years is a great one and the author brought it to life in a realistic way. It’s much harder than I would have thought.

The book is light and deep at the same time. The ending, which seemed rushed and was off paced from the rest of the book, left me wanting a little more closure. Other than that, it’s well written and completely engrossing. I’ll read this author any time!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy. All opinions are mine.

I really enjoyed this novel and was sad when it was over. Even though I don’t have a ton in common with these characters, I somehow identified with all of them.

After 36 years of marriage, Lata finally works up the courage to divorce Suresh. She was set up with him when she was 20 in an arranged marriage, and he wasn’t abusive, an alcoholic, or a gambler, so she told herself that just because he was always negative, she had no reason to complain. Now, she wants to try life where she’s working, alone, and not taking care of her children and husband all the time.

Suresh does not want to be alone, but his online dating of other Indian-American women is not going well.

Their adult children Priya and Niresh are having relationship problems of their own. There are chuckles along the way. Recommend.
NetGalley provided an advance copy of this novel, which RELEASES MAY 2, 2023.

Late Bloomers follows the members of an Indian-American family in Texas as they struggle to find their footing after a divorce reshapes their relationships. The characters are well-developed and mostly sympathetic (I was not a fan of the daughter). The story is engaging and well-written. You end up rooting for the characters despite their flaws.

Deepa Varadarajan has crafted a delightful family story about two generations in an Indian American family, the immigrant parents with a traditional arranged marriage who left India for America to seek more opportunities four decades ago; and their American born thirty-something children. Both generations are trying to balance to the cultural yearnings of their heritage with present day realities.

We meet them after the parents have been divorced for a few years. Suresh, a surly man who doesn’t understand any women whether Indian or American, young or old, is discovering internet dating. Lata, an educated woman who suppressed herself for decades in subservience to her uncaring spouse, is at her first American job in a library and a patron is flirting with her. Priya is their 35 year old unmarried (the scandal of it!) daughter and history professor who is having an affair with a married man; Nikesh is their 31 year old son, a Harvard educated corporate lawyer, who is in a relationship with the “stern Nordic” Denise, the mother of their nearly one year old son, Alok. Oh, Denise is Nikesh’s superior at the white shoe law firm. Nikesh has failed to mention to his family that he and Denise are not married.

Alok’s first birthday is coming up, an occasion for this group to come together for the first time in years. Suresh remarks that it’s hard for parents to parent children, and harder to parent adult children. And now the children are also trying to parent their own parents.

This is a heartwarming, witty debut from Deepa Varadarajan that will have you laughing and crying. I fell in love with each of the characters (well, maybe not so much Suresh, although his old time views on everything are extremely funny) and even some of the supporting characters like Deanna, Lara’s young colleague, and “Pantene hair woman” Mallika, who has moved into Suresh’s house with her young son, are well drawn. This is a family dealing with cultural turmoil and everyday worries, but still obviously loving each other in their own ways. 5 stars!

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO No green eyes at all.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Apparently, Suresh has become quite the gardener in Lata’s absence; she expected a weed-filled yard.

This is exactly what literary fiction should be. Full of heart and characters that you want to root for even when you’re frustrated with their choices. My favorite hands down is Lata, it’s so rare we see older women take charge of their lives and choose to go it alone. I would have loved this story to center on her journey but I was satisfied with how it ended for her.

I truly loved this book and the characters. You can connect with each one easily. No family is perfect, no family tells each other everything. Parenting is hard, no matter the stage you are in.
I would love to see a sequel to this one. And Deanne was a great character for some comic relief.
Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this one ahead of publication.

Thank you, Netgalley, for letting me read this book.

Sadly, I nearly quit reading at the first chapter. Nothing against the writer, but I had assumed the book was about women. Fair warning: it is about a family, including the father and son. Each member gets their chapters. I must admit that listening to text-to-speech, it was hard to tell who the chapter was about. I think that if an author sets up a book this way, they should include the words Chapter 1 or another number and then the name of the point of view. That would clear confusion right up front.

Once I figured out who the chapters were about and the book's aim, I could see the novel through.

On the other hand, though this book was about an Indian-American family, it was universal in many ways. People not listening to each other. People not expressing their authentic truth. People jump to their own conclusions. Gossip. Betrayal. The reader wonders if they will ever find their way to healthy relationships. It was hard to live through all of this.

It is worth the read to learn how new Americans of other origins might see how this melting-pot culture gets in their own ways, too.