The Care and Handling of Roses With Thorns
A Novel
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4.2 • 11 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Winner of the ALA Reading List Award
Difficult and obstinate. Thriving under a set of specific and limited conditions. That pretty much describes me. Maybe that’s why I like these roses so much.
Roses are Galilee Garner’s passion. An amateur breeder, she painstakingly cross-pollinates her plants to coax out new, better traits, striving to create a perfect strain of her favorite flower, the Hulthemia. Her dream is to win a major rose competition and one day have her version of the bloom sold in the commercial market.
Gal carefully calibrates the rest of her time to manage the kidney failure she’s had since childhood, going to dialysis every other night, and teaching high school biology, where she is known for her exacting standards. The routine leaves little room for relationships, and Gal prefers it that way. Her roses never disappoint her the way people have.
Then one afternoon, Riley, the teenaged daughter of Gal’s estranged sister, arrives unannounced to live with her, turning Gal’s orderly existence upside down. Suddenly forced to adjust to each other’s worlds, both will discover a resilience they never knew they had and a bond they never knew they needed.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The title is apt to describe Galilee Garner, the prickly protagonist of Dilloway's second novel (after How to Be an American Housewife). "Gal" has been on dialysis since she was diagnosed with kidney disease as a child and, by her own choosing, has distanced herself from others. She lives a solitary life in central California, her free time spent breeding competition roses and teaching high school biology at a private Catholic school. Her sole friend, Dara, whose frilly '50s style makes her look like a character from the musical Grease, teaches art at the same school, but Gal's self-centeredness creates a rift in their relationship. Gal's autonomy is challenged when her teenage niece Riley arrives unannounced when Riley's flighty mom, Gal's sister, goes to Hong Kong on business. Having Riley around slowly softens Gal, drawing her focus away from herself. There's no mystery that Dilloway's metaphor, the care needed to keep a rose thriving, is meant to evoke the needs of a child, a friendship, or someone suffering a chronic illness. Dilloway's tale is slow in reaching the sweet part of Gal's hardened heart, and this lack of empathy will push some readers away.
Customer Reviews
Too neatly wrapped a package
This book is worth the read. However, it is as much worth reading for its lesson in how not to write a novel as much as it is a lesson in how to craft a story. It is at once light and overwrought; hokey yet endearing. Where "How to Be an American Housewife" readily deserves four-star praise, this sophomore effort fails to live up to that example. Though this will by no means go down in history books as a piece of great literature, it is a worthy companion at the pool or curled up in bed on a Sunday morning. I sincerely look forward to seeing what Margaret Dilloway does next!