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Late Bloomer: A Novel
The award-winning, widely praised author of Disappearing Ingenue is at the top of her form in this witty, wickedly funny novel about a romance writer whose real life begins to outpace the wildest flights of her imagination.
After one failed marriage and numerous dating disasters, Prudence True Parker teaches Advanced Personal Journey at a community college in Arizona. Prudence’s own personal journey has led to a mountain of debts, and she is beginning to feel desperate. Salvation comes at the local library, where she meets Digby Deeds (alias Mildred Crawley), the author of the Savage Passion romance series. Nearing the end of his life, Digby is looking for someone to keep Savage Passion alive and offers Prudence the final forty plots of the wildly popular series. Moved more by financial desperation than literary aspiration, she reluctantly accepts the bequest.
Just after taking on the project, Prudence’s friendly local psychic foresees the arrival of a romantic stranger in her life. The prediction comes true with startling At a Native American charity event in Oklahoma, Prudence is swept off her feet by a mysterious young Comanche artist, Ray Chasing Hawk. A month later, Ray shows up on her doorstep. Fired by the irresistible desires their affair awakens, Prudence begins writing her first Native American romance. Real life gives her plenty of inspiration for her fictional plot and her home fills to overflowing with visitors, including Native American activists, medicine men, and wolves. In a hilarious, totally satisfying conclusion, the pieces of her life fall into place at the annual Romance Writers Convention in Houston, Texas. Smartly written and laugh-out-loud funny, Late Bloomer is a high-spirited tale of romance, captivity, and savage love women of all ages will relish. www.doubleday.com
After one failed marriage and numerous dating disasters, Prudence True Parker teaches Advanced Personal Journey at a community college in Arizona. Prudence’s own personal journey has led to a mountain of debts, and she is beginning to feel desperate. Salvation comes at the local library, where she meets Digby Deeds (alias Mildred Crawley), the author of the Savage Passion romance series. Nearing the end of his life, Digby is looking for someone to keep Savage Passion alive and offers Prudence the final forty plots of the wildly popular series. Moved more by financial desperation than literary aspiration, she reluctantly accepts the bequest.
Just after taking on the project, Prudence’s friendly local psychic foresees the arrival of a romantic stranger in her life. The prediction comes true with startling At a Native American charity event in Oklahoma, Prudence is swept off her feet by a mysterious young Comanche artist, Ray Chasing Hawk. A month later, Ray shows up on her doorstep. Fired by the irresistible desires their affair awakens, Prudence begins writing her first Native American romance. Real life gives her plenty of inspiration for her fictional plot and her home fills to overflowing with visitors, including Native American activists, medicine men, and wolves. In a hilarious, totally satisfying conclusion, the pieces of her life fall into place at the annual Romance Writers Convention in Houston, Texas. Smartly written and laugh-out-loud funny, Late Bloomer is a high-spirited tale of romance, captivity, and savage love women of all ages will relish. www.doubleday.com
- GenresChick Lit
384 pages, Hardcover
First published March 16, 2004
35 people want to read
About the author
Melissa Pritchard
26 books76 followersFLIGHT OF THE WILD SWAN, Bellevue Literary Press,
March 2024, RB Media audiobook
- Book Award Finalist: Last Syllable, Longform Literary Journal (winner announced 12/25)
- A Favorite Book of 2024: The Washington Independent Review of Books
- 2025 Georgia Author of the Year Finalist, Literary Fiction
-* Portland Book Review, "The writing is beautiful, stark and luxuriant by turns."
_ New York Times, "Best Historical Fiction"
_ New York Sun, "A standout."
- NPR/GPB's Peter Biello, All Things Considered: "...an amazing book. Just an incredible book."
- Denver Post, "An awe-inspiring story."
_ *Publishers Weekly, starred, Featured Fiction.
_ *Kirkus Review, starred.
_ *Foreword Reviews, starred, "An inspiring novel."
- Atlanta Journal Constitution, "An addictive read..."
_ Historical Novel Society, "Powerful...a significant tribute."
_ LibraryThing Review
_ Booklist, "A compelling human portrait of an extraordinary woman."
_ Historical Novels Review, "Powerful."
- Atlanta Journal Constitution, "An addictive read..."
_ Midwest Book Review, "Exceptional."
_ BookBrowse TOP PICK, "...a tremendously written novel...a story to read, reread, and share with others."
- A "Reading with Arizona PBS selection"
- Southern Literary Review: "Rich and detailed...exceptional!"
AWARDS: 2025 Georgia Author of the Year Finalist, Flannery O'Connor, Carl Sandburg, Janet Kafka, NEA, five Pushcart and O.Henry Prizes, Barnes & Noble Great Writers Award, Carson McCullers Fellow. Fiction, non-fiction in Paris Review, Ecotone, A Public Space, Conjunctions, LitMag, Southern Review, O the Oprah Magazine, Wilson Quarterly, the Nation, Chicago Tribune, NYTBR, others. Frequently anthologized. Fiction editor: IMAGE
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 8, 2018
The narrative for Melissa Pritchard’s romantic satire, Late Bloomer, desires to comment on the romance genre by contrasting real life romance (that of the story’s heroine) with the fictional romance that the heroine writes. The story is set in Arizona, where the debt-ridden divorced mother, Prudence True Parker, is at a public library to write a syllabus for the course Advanced Personal Journey that she will be teaching at a local community college. The course Advanced Personal Journey is somewhat foreshadowing of Prudence’s personal journey in the Late Bloomer, and a central theme to her story. While Prudence is an author of an award-winning book, she has not written anything in years and has financial worries. While in the women’s bathroom of the library, Prudence meets a cross-dresser, Digby Deeds, in a chance encounter.
Digby is better known under the name Mildred Crawley, who is a highly successful author of romance novels. Basically, Digby is dying and believes that his meeting with Prudence in the bathroom is fate. “Meeting you in a public toilet, Ms. Parker, was worth every misery of that arduous afternoon, even perhaps the divinely ordained reason for my appearance” (Pritchard 18). As a reward for passing him toilet paper in the bathroom, Digby makes Prudence his heir to the forty unfinished stories of his wildly popular and bestselling book series, Savage Passion. This is also indicative of the theme of Prudence’s “Advanced Personal Journey” which is unfinished as well, and introduces the linked motifs of romance, and the Native American with the title Savage Passion. Ironically while Prudence does love many types of fictional stories, she believes that romance novels have no great value.
“Shouldn’t one live one’s romance, not read about preposterous imaginary ones” (Pritchard 12)? Still, her mounting bills and the teenage daughter she must support convinces Prudence to put aside her intellectual pride and accept Digby’s gift. However, soon enough Prudence’s love life unexpectedly blossoms. While volunteering at a Native American fund raiser in Oklahoma, Prudence meets Ray Chasing Hawk, a gorgeous Comanche activist who is much younger than she is. The two share a night of passionate love making.
Prudence then returns home to Arizona to resume teaching. However, Ray soon comes back into her life, and before long he moves into her home, painting, modeling, and preparing to become a Sun Dancer. This suits Prudence since Mildred Crawley had planned her next book in the series to be about a romance between a white woman and an Indian chief. However, this creates tension between Prudence, her increasingly independent teenage daughter Fiona, and her aging mother that live with her. The setting and scene feels chaotic as the narrative brings in different Native American characters, and even wolves into the home.
Pritchard is overly descriptive in her writing, as she puts in a lot of unnecessary details while describing a scene in the book. However, some readers might find Pritchard’s writing to be quite immersive and at the same time scattered. Prudence True Parker, as a protagonist, is very underwhelming. She is a woman on the verge of fifty who handles her relationship problems with Ray like that of a high school student. “… Prudence, since he refused to hear her miserable, fabricated explanation, summoned up a full-scale theatrical faint, toppling, eyes rolled back, onto the unvacuumed, mushroom-colored carpet near his feet” (Pritchard 158).
“Prudence ran up behind him and started pummeling his back and shoulders …” (Pritchard 182). Like a jealous, paranoid teenage girl, Prudence also tries to listen in on the conversations that Ray has with other women to make sure that Ray is not cheating on her. She also shows poor judgement in taking him into her home when all he does is speak horribly to her and is not even looking to be in a relationship. “… you are so white you glow in the dark” (Pritchard 129). “I hate that word. Relationship. It’s a negative word” (Pritchard 181).
Even though Ray Chasing Hawk is portrayed as a much worse character than Prudence, she is still the one who keeps letting him into her life. However, Pritchard does describe the other characters in the book quite well. She gives each of them a distinctive personality and even provides details in how each of them speaks in their dialogue. The overall issue that derails the book somewhat is that Late Bloomer is supposed to be a satire, but it is hardly funny, and its’ exaggerated sarcastic nature only serves to irritate the reader. The voice that Pritchard uses in writing this novel is somewhat condescending, and at times filled with sarcasm and dry humor for anyone to laugh out loud.
Even though Ray is unaware that he serves as a purpose to Prudence’s novel, the troubled relationship between the two lovers compares adversely to the plot in the novel that Prudence is writing in secret at night. Pritchard tries to contrast a fantasy passion with Prudence’s less than perfect affair with the undesirable Ray, who is almost always unemployed, not happy, self-centered. Ray also is secretive about his friendships with other women, and perfectly content to live from Prudence’s money. Readers may be as confused as Fiona by her mother’s attraction to Ray, though she herself has not chosen much better. When Ray discovers that Prudence has been using him as a model for her fiction, he feels used. However, the tensions between them are all too easily resolved. Overall, the plot feels forced and unrealistic, and the love scenes are at best ho-hum. As a reader going into this book believing it was a comedic satire, it failed to delivery on that promise of making this reader laugh.
Digby is better known under the name Mildred Crawley, who is a highly successful author of romance novels. Basically, Digby is dying and believes that his meeting with Prudence in the bathroom is fate. “Meeting you in a public toilet, Ms. Parker, was worth every misery of that arduous afternoon, even perhaps the divinely ordained reason for my appearance” (Pritchard 18). As a reward for passing him toilet paper in the bathroom, Digby makes Prudence his heir to the forty unfinished stories of his wildly popular and bestselling book series, Savage Passion. This is also indicative of the theme of Prudence’s “Advanced Personal Journey” which is unfinished as well, and introduces the linked motifs of romance, and the Native American with the title Savage Passion. Ironically while Prudence does love many types of fictional stories, she believes that romance novels have no great value.
“Shouldn’t one live one’s romance, not read about preposterous imaginary ones” (Pritchard 12)? Still, her mounting bills and the teenage daughter she must support convinces Prudence to put aside her intellectual pride and accept Digby’s gift. However, soon enough Prudence’s love life unexpectedly blossoms. While volunteering at a Native American fund raiser in Oklahoma, Prudence meets Ray Chasing Hawk, a gorgeous Comanche activist who is much younger than she is. The two share a night of passionate love making.
Prudence then returns home to Arizona to resume teaching. However, Ray soon comes back into her life, and before long he moves into her home, painting, modeling, and preparing to become a Sun Dancer. This suits Prudence since Mildred Crawley had planned her next book in the series to be about a romance between a white woman and an Indian chief. However, this creates tension between Prudence, her increasingly independent teenage daughter Fiona, and her aging mother that live with her. The setting and scene feels chaotic as the narrative brings in different Native American characters, and even wolves into the home.
Pritchard is overly descriptive in her writing, as she puts in a lot of unnecessary details while describing a scene in the book. However, some readers might find Pritchard’s writing to be quite immersive and at the same time scattered. Prudence True Parker, as a protagonist, is very underwhelming. She is a woman on the verge of fifty who handles her relationship problems with Ray like that of a high school student. “… Prudence, since he refused to hear her miserable, fabricated explanation, summoned up a full-scale theatrical faint, toppling, eyes rolled back, onto the unvacuumed, mushroom-colored carpet near his feet” (Pritchard 158).
“Prudence ran up behind him and started pummeling his back and shoulders …” (Pritchard 182). Like a jealous, paranoid teenage girl, Prudence also tries to listen in on the conversations that Ray has with other women to make sure that Ray is not cheating on her. She also shows poor judgement in taking him into her home when all he does is speak horribly to her and is not even looking to be in a relationship. “… you are so white you glow in the dark” (Pritchard 129). “I hate that word. Relationship. It’s a negative word” (Pritchard 181).
Even though Ray Chasing Hawk is portrayed as a much worse character than Prudence, she is still the one who keeps letting him into her life. However, Pritchard does describe the other characters in the book quite well. She gives each of them a distinctive personality and even provides details in how each of them speaks in their dialogue. The overall issue that derails the book somewhat is that Late Bloomer is supposed to be a satire, but it is hardly funny, and its’ exaggerated sarcastic nature only serves to irritate the reader. The voice that Pritchard uses in writing this novel is somewhat condescending, and at times filled with sarcasm and dry humor for anyone to laugh out loud.
Even though Ray is unaware that he serves as a purpose to Prudence’s novel, the troubled relationship between the two lovers compares adversely to the plot in the novel that Prudence is writing in secret at night. Pritchard tries to contrast a fantasy passion with Prudence’s less than perfect affair with the undesirable Ray, who is almost always unemployed, not happy, self-centered. Ray also is secretive about his friendships with other women, and perfectly content to live from Prudence’s money. Readers may be as confused as Fiona by her mother’s attraction to Ray, though she herself has not chosen much better. When Ray discovers that Prudence has been using him as a model for her fiction, he feels used. However, the tensions between them are all too easily resolved. Overall, the plot feels forced and unrealistic, and the love scenes are at best ho-hum. As a reader going into this book believing it was a comedic satire, it failed to delivery on that promise of making this reader laugh.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 29, 2010
This is a fun book that puts down romance novels and their readers but actually is a romance novel, after all. Ironic and funny--I enjoyed it.
May 31, 2013
While lovely at times, and lush with detail, the characters flaws never are addressed in any meaningful way. I don't believe for a second that going through a spiritual experience together is the magical solution to a capital-P Problematic relationship. Has Ray now decided that women are worthy of respect? (Seriously, I was gagging at everything he said by halfway through.) Has Prudence learned to differentiate between loyalty and servitude? Argumentative insults and verbal abuse? I doubt all of it. Also, there's a weird undercurrent of distaste for romance novels in this ...romance novel. Because yes, that's what it is. Pritchard writes as if the genre is capable of nothing but slosh.
Fff, kind of a negative review! I adored Fiona, and the descriptions of the southwest I know and love, the ceremonies, people's homes...
Read this with little distance between yourself and the characters. They will grow on you, but they won't grow up all the way.
Fff, kind of a negative review! I adored Fiona, and the descriptions of the southwest I know and love, the ceremonies, people's homes...
Read this with little distance between yourself and the characters. They will grow on you, but they won't grow up all the way.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews