Late Bloomers: A Novel

Praise for Late Bloomers: A Novel

“[A] hilarious novel about coming-of-age (at any age) . . .”—Chatelaine

“[A] heartwarming journey of self-discovery that finds each member of a family setting out on their own new paths.”—Southern Living

“[A] hilarious comedy of errors . . . ”—Good Housekeeping

“The unexpected humor makes for a touching tale . . . Late Bloomers is both funny and moving—a family drama the entire family can enjoy.”—Reader’s Digest

“This funny, charming novel will reassure you that our wrong turns often help us find our way.”—Real Simple

“[A] heartwarming debut novel.”—PureWow

“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.”—Shelf Awareness

“Late Bloomers follows the lives of a South Indian‒American family as they deal with love in all its permutations. Deepa Varadarajan deftly weaves modern-day problems like internet dating and complicated living arrangements with the eternal yearning for acceptance and the ageless desire to live up to family expectations.”—Katherine Heiny, author of Early Morning Riser and Games and Rituals

“Late Bloomers is about love won and lost and rearranged and rediscovered . . . Varadarajan writes about the everyday life of the Raman family with so much humor and affection that she makes the ordinary feel extraordinary. I adore this family and I adore this book.”—Whitney Otto, author of How to Make an American Quilt

“Deepa Varadarajan’s debut novel is funny, heartbreaking, engrossing, surprising, and smart. Late Bloomers tells the story of the Raman family, beginning after the children have grown up. I never knew what would happen next and I absolutely loved that about this beautiful book.”—Marcy Dermansky, author of Hurricane Girl and Very Nice

“A stirring, tender novel about the bonds and binds between families and strangers. Varadarajan poignantly delivers a page-turner in which both the young and the not so young have to reconfigure expectations and forge new pathways in order to find fulfillment. Late Bloomers asks what it means to be a family—a happy family—in a rapidly changing world, and offers promising answers.”—Soniah Kamal, author of Unmarriageable

“Varadarajan has written her characters with intelligence and compassion, imbuing them with complexity . . . Warm, hopeful, often charming. The Ramans are an idiosyncratic oasis in the world of literary unhappy families.”—Kirkus Reviews
 
“Varadarajan debuts with an endearing exploration of an Indian American family’s search for new beginnings. . . . These strong voices leave an indelible mark.”—Publishers Weekly

“Readers looking for new fictional friends to cherish will be smitten with the Ramans from page one.”—Booklist