Late Bloomer : A Novel

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Summary: Thank you for the laughter-- and a literary experience
Review: Melissa Pritchard has succeeded on all counts with Late Bloomer. This is literary fiction at its finest. Taut prose, hilarious situations, poetic sentences and unlikely images, these are all at work here. There were laugh-out-loud moments throughout. But that is not all. This is the epic story of Prudence True Parker, our befuddled heroine, who finds herself in various locales: Hawaii, the desert, Arizona, academia, romance novel conventions, a Native American Sundance. And then there are the situations: an empty bank account, a romance with a younger Sioux man, unwanted house guests, a distant adolescent daughter, a never-satisfied mother. Add to this the crazy notion that Pru is chosen as the new author to carry on a lucrative romance novel institution. Late Bloomer is a most inventive, touching and spiritual book, a deeply funny and sometimes sad novel. Pritchard captures Pru (and all women) in her fullest bloom-flawed and lovable and ever-striving. This is real life where serendipity rules. If you are looking for a romance novel, a bodice ripper, this is not for you-- head on over to pulp. This is serious fiction-don't let the cover art fool you (though there are some great love scenes!).

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Summary: Savage Love Meets Real-Life Romance
Review: Middlebrow academic Prudence True Parker is at a turning point in her life. After she meets a drag-queen romance author in the bathroom of a Tempe public library, she becomes the heir to the ongoing "Savage Passion" romance series. As soon as she begins work on her first overblown Indian romance, Prudence becomes involved with a Native activist, model and artist, Ray Chasing Hawk.

The idealized scenes which Prudence pens at late hours contrast with her complicated and messy real-life relationship with Ray. Prudence finds that our culture's idealized depictions of Native American life and the American West are much different from the reality - and, of course, that romance is never as easy as it seems.

Prudence's eventual journey to the Sun Dance with Ray and his spiritual mentors is both frustrating and enlightening, and she eventually finds a way to reconcile her personal romance story with her need to remain independent as a woman and her disdain for the empty promises of the "Savage Love" books she reluctantly authored. Prudence is joined in her midlife journey by her artistic daughter Fiona, her widowed mother, and an assortment of memorable friends and foes.

Parker's writing is tart, satirical, and her observations are bitingly accurate. Whether you are a fan of romance (or you sometimes read it as a guilty pleasure,)or you are a lover of realistic, serious literature, you will surely relate to Pritchard's deft examination of a complicated real-life romance story.

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Summary: Dear Melissa Pritchard;
Review: Thank you for your newest and most uproarious novel, Late Bloomer. Thank you for providing me with a book which both tickles and pinches, tugs and shoves, inspires and entertains! It is spring, and love IS in the air, but some girls need a bit more than Hollywood or the best selling romance novels have to offer lately. Real love, as demonstrated in Bloomer, is hard to explain or justify. Prudence was a complex and dynamic girl, quite a bit like myself, who I could both relate to and condemn. Bloomer, with it's quirky characters and delicious storyline, has all of the elements necessary to satisfy both the intellect and the town gossip. Thank you, Ms. Pritchard, for writing such a rare and true tale of love, family, coincidence, and life. I hope to soon see Late Bloomer in a movie theatre for all of America to enjoy! (P.S. Johnny Depp as Ray Chasing Hawk? Please??)