Super Bloom

Massage therapist Joan Johnston is left unmoored after the death of her boyfriend, Samuel. Her job at the Apex Inn and Spa in Vermont is already on dangerously thin ice because of her attitude toward customers and friends alike. When famous romance novelist Carmen Bronze, one of the spa’s most demanding clients, offers her a way to save her job (and help Carmen in the bargain), Joan jumps at the chance. Now Joan must feed insider information to Carmen for her next book; as she does so, she is inspired to write her own novel. Tady’s debut is a tender yet hilarious novel of a young woman grappling with grief while discovering her talents and aspirations. Marni Penning provides a lively narration of a cast of eccentric characters, including grief-stricken Joan, high-strung Carmen, stereotypical Vermonters, and free-spirited hippies, all of whom bring whimsy to an otherwise heavy topic. Listeners are also treated to a novel within a novel as Joan processes her grief through writing.