Johnnie Come Lately

(Hardback, Large Print Edition)

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Would life have been different for Johnnie if she hadn't been named after her dead uncle Or if her mama hadn't been so beautiful and flighty The grandparents who raised her were loving, but didn't understand her inner turmoil. And they had so many secrets. Now 43, Johnnie has three beautiful children a handsome, hardworking husband who adores her. But will the life she's always wanted, where she gets to pursue her own dreams' ever begin

Reviews

"Have a tissue handy, as you will feel lots of emotion while reading.... Kathleen M. Rodgers' book is truly an inspiration to anyone who has gone through an eating disorder.... Johnnie Come Lately is a great book. It's a little hard to read this and not feel for the characters."

--Sharon Salituro, Fresh Fiction, Posted January 26, 2015

"Johnny Come Lately is a thoroughly compelling story of a family in crisis. Rodgers has combined humor, tragedy, and ultimately love, in what is an uplifting story of the human spirit. There were times that I laughed and cried and shouted for joy, and I am not ashamed to say it."

--Dwight J. Zimmerman, #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of Lincoln's Last Days

"The remnants of Johnnie Kitchen's childhood traumas threaten the life she needs and wants now--a deep and enduring love, children, and an orderly family life. Award-winning author Kathleen Rodgers has written a brave and uplifting novel that will move anyone who has faced a long, lonely road back from disaster and despair."

--Joyce Faulkner, past president of Military Writers Society of America and award-winning author of Windshift and In the Shadow of Suribachi

""Johnny Come Lately" is a thoroughly compelling story of a family in crisis. Rodgers has combined humor, tragedy, and ultimately love, in what is an uplifting story of the human spirit. There were times that I laughed and cried and shouted for joy, and I am not ashamed to say it."

--Dwight J. Zimmerman, #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of "Lincoln s Last Days""

"Have a tissue handy, as you will feel lots of emotion while reading.... Kathleen M. Rodgers' book is truly an inspiration to anyone who has gone through an eating disorder.... "Johnnie Come Lately" is a great book. It s a little hard to read this and not feel for the characters."

Sharon Salituro, Fresh Fiction, Posted January 26, 2015"

"The remnants of Johnnie Kitchen's childhood traumas threaten the life she needs and wants now--a deep and enduring love, children, and an orderly family life. Award-winning author Kathleen Rodgers has written a brave and uplifting novel that will move anyone who has faced a long, lonely road back from disaster and despair."

--Joyce Faulkner, past president of Military Writers Society of America and award-winning author of "Windshift and In the Shadow of Suribachi"

"Have a tissue handy, as you will feel lots of emotion while reading.... Kathleen M. Rodgers' book is truly an inspiration to anyone who has gone through an eating disorder . Johnnie Come Lately is a great book. It's a little hard to read this and not feel for the characters."
--Sharon Salituro, Fresh Fiction, Posted January 26, 2015"
Secrets and Bravery: A Review of Kathleen M. Rodgers's Novel Johnnie Come Lately

by Jodie Cain Smith (Army)

I begin reading many books, but I don't finish many books. In fact, the bookshelf in my office is crammed full of abandoned books. Why, you ask Why would a woman who makes her living with words stop reading Well, when I am left to be nothing but a curious reader searching for a compelling story, I look for questions. When I find no questions in the story or characters or, disappointingly, my questions are answered too easily, I stop reading and move on to the next book in my stack. Thankfully, Kathleen Rodgers offers up questions aplenty and quickly in her latest, Johnnie Come Lately; questions that aren't fully answered until the last page. Oh yeah, I finished this one. I had no choice.

In fact, I only had to meet teenage Johnnie in the prologue to be sucked into her story and the multitude of questions the few pages offered. Immediately, I had to know who this young woman was, why her mother ran off, what was the root cause of Johnnie's bulimia, did she ever recover, and how on earth did her Uncle Johnny and boyfriend Clovis die I turned the page to Chapter One searching for answers, but was thrust into the world of a forty-three-year-old version of Johnny Kitchen, married woman and mother of three.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop! What about the teenager from the prologue and the decades in between I had to know, so I was relieved to discover that Kathleen Rodgers is clever. Using a journaling device unlike others I have read, the details of Johnnie Kitchen's life unfolded in haunting language on the pages. In her journal, Johnnie wrote letters to herself, her adult self and teenage self, complete strangers, and the ghosts of her past, pleading with them to reveal their true purpose in her life, to forgive her past transgressions, and to soothe her grief for losses she can never recover.

Within the pages of Johnnie Come Lately, I discovered an unlikely optimism, a tale of hope. Thank goodness! As a military spouse, I am turned off by weakness and incompetence. I want everyone, especially the women in my life, to know their inner strength and use it. I have no use for whining or pessimism or a defeatist attitude. Yes, I have high expectations, but Johnnie fulfilled those expectations.

I must admit I was afraid Johnnie Kitchen was going to drown in her own faults and shortcomings, but I was wrong. What I found in her, despite her many failings, were optimism and faith that would keep her moving forward, fighting her inner demons, and searching for answers to her many questions. Her eternal hope was especially present when the problems in her marriage, challenges faced and posed by her children, and secrets of the past would be easier dealt with by not dealing with them at all. Johnnie Kitchen, this woman with so many secrets to hide, becomes the bravest of all Rodgers' characters by exposing herself and challenging the shortcomings in those she loves the most.

By the end of the novel, Johnnie Kitchen had become my friend, one that I am sad to be without now that Johnnie Come Lately is off my nightstand and back on my shelf, every word devoured.
--Posted February 9, 2015, on the Military Spouse Book Review

"Johnny Come Lately is a thoroughly compelling story of a family in crisis. Rodgers has combined humor, tragedy, and ultimately love, in what is an uplifting story of the human spirit. There were times that I laughed and cried and shouted for joy, and I am not ashamed to say it."

--Dwight J. Zimmerman, #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of Lincoln's Last Days

"The remnants of Johnnie Kitchen's childhood traumas threaten the life she needs and wants now--a deep and enduring love, children, and an orderly family life. Award-winning author Kathleen Rodgers has written a brave and uplifting novel that will move anyone who has faced a long, lonely road back from disaster and despair."

--Joyce Faulkner, past president of Military Writers Society of America and award-winning author of Windshift and In the Shadow of Suribachi

THE FINAL SALUTE: "Until the very end, readers are intrigued by her colorful cast of characters that bring everything from love to betrayal amid the added struggle of military life."
--Fort Worth, Texas Magazine