Review: The Late Bloomers’ Club (by Louise Miller)

My Rating: 3.5 stars

After a slew of emotional, heavy, intense reads, I needed a "palette cleanser" of sorts, something light-hearted and not too long, a book that would be a perfect wind-down to summer -- Louise Miller's The Late Bloomers' Club fit the bill nicely!  This is a charming story set in a small town in Vermont, with characters so endearing that I found myself taking to them almost immediately.  I grew up in the hustle and bustle of a big city where everyone was always so busy trying to meet the demands of city life that it was often hard to develop friendships with others in the same neighborhood, let alone the community at large.  Because of this, I'm often attracted to books about small towns where everyone in the community know each other and the natural inclination is to band together and help each other out in times of trouble – this is the exact type of community at the center of this story, which revolves around Nora Huckleberry, owner of the Miss Guthrie Diner, her free-spirited sister Kit, and cake lady Peggy Johnson who bequeaths the sisters with her home and property upon her death.  While the sisters are tasked with having to decide whether to sell the land to the big-box developer that Peggy was in talks with prior to her death, they also have their own personal issues to deal with – add to that the differing opinions from everyone in the community, some of whom want the growth opportunities that the developer would bring, while others oppose any change that could potentially threaten their livelihoods.  These various conflicts were incorporated into a narrative that featured many elements of a heartwarming, "feel-good" story – small town atmosphere with ordinary people living ordinary lives, close-knit friendships, sisterly and family love, plenty of descriptions of mouth-watering foods and desserts, lush depictions of farms, orchards, country houses, a light touch of romance, and yes, Freckles the dog (one of the characters I adored the most, lol).  The result was a well-balanced story with just enough depth to keep things interesting, but still maintain a light, warm tone that made this an easy, fun read.  While it's true that much of the plot was predictable and the ending was tied up a little too nicely, that was to be expected with this story, so not much of an issue there.  If I had one "complaint," it would be that the narrative was told entirely from Nora's first person point of view, which made the writing a little bit clunky in some parts – I think the story would've been better told in third person, especially since the other characters aside from Nora also factored into the story in significant ways. 

With all that said, I did enjoy this one overall and actually would like to read this author's first book, The City Baker's Guide to Country Living, which it sounds like is a companion piece to this book (same setting and some of the same characters).  Overall, a worthwhile, recommended read!

Received ARC from Pamela Dorman Books via Penguin First to Read program.