Sandy M’s review of The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns by Margaret Dilloway
Women’s Fiction published by Berkley Trade 2 July 13
I’ve decided lately that when offered a book outside the romance genre that sounds good, I’m going to expand my horizons and go for it. That worked well the last time I tried it, so when this book came along, I took that leap of faith again. And I wasn’t disappointed one bit. This is a wonderfully written story of a careful, delicate life uprooted of its order – the thorns of life – but holding on to what you believe in will bring you out triumphant on the other side.
Galilee Garner – Gal for short – is teacher at a private school and she breeds roses. She’s a staunch advocate of earning what you get in life and one whose passion keeps her going, keeps her getting up the next day to do the undoable all over again. You see, Gal undergoes dialysis every other day. Her kidneys have been failing since she was quite young, she’s had two transplants and now needs a third. So a friend takes her to her treatments whenever possible, and Gal gets through her days and nights with an outlook that many in her situation might not have.
Just into the new school year, Gal gets the surprise of her life. Her niece, Riley, shows up unannounced at school because Gal’s sister’s job has taken her out of the country to Hong Kong for the summer. She hasn’t seen Riley for a few years now, so the gothed-up girl before her is unexpected. It doesn’t take long for the makeup to come off and the clothes to tone down, all of which makes Gal wonder at the relationship between mother and daughter. She figures it’s par for the course, she grew up with Becky, after all. Riley has trouble fitting in with the students at first, but eventually finds a couple of friends to hang out with. Until Gal discovers them in a situation they shouldn’t be in, and things begin to go a bit downhill.
In between all of this, Gal’s breeding of Hulthemia roses continues, and she’s hopeful she has a new breed that will sweep competitions to make a name for herself worldwide. I really like the forays into her greenhouse, her meticulous notes on each and every rose, and the flower shows she attends with Riley in tow. Ms. Dilloway does this all in a way that is nowhere near boring nor overdone, as sometimes happens when dealing with such a concept in books. The characters at the shows are eccentric and charming in their own way, all know about Gal’s medical condition, sometimes looking at her as though this is the last thing she’ll do in life. After her trials with Riley, the parental problems that crop up at school that the headmaster and even her friend think she’s handling improperly, when Gal is betrayed by a so-called friend at a show, I found myself shaking my head and wondering when Gal’s going to get a break in all the unexpected hardships that have currently muddied up her life.
Even the other part of her world in dialysis and hospital stays, luck is not with her. She’s been pushed off the transplant list, and I rooted her on in her tirade about who should be on the list and why. Then just when you think she’s on her way to a longer life, things still don’t work out just as you think. This woman has been and is stoic in all aspects of life, despite living with thorns amid the beauty she creates. I wanted to scream at and slap silly her friend who keeps wanting Gal to do things opposite of what she believes in, let alone a couple of other things the woman does. Same goes for that headmaster. I can’t believe he’d want students from his school out in the world with the way he wants them taught. Give me a teacher like Gal any day.
But in spite of everything, even doubts she has along the way, Gal sticks to her guns. The only point I wanted her to really rail at some unfairness is that little betrayal at the rose show. I guess she’s a better person than I am. Though she does go on to better things and gets a bit of revenge in the long run. Gal is definitely a character to admire, to root for, to hope that she gets all in life she deserves. That begins a bit at the end of the book, both with her roses and with Riley. She’s found a love she’s never had before, in more ways than one. We are left hanging a little, which I’m still not sure I like. I guess it’s the romance reader in me who wants everyone and everything tied up in a red bow by the last page. Despite that, this is one of those books you’ll want to read. Gal is one of those heroines you don’t want to miss knowing.
Grade: B+
Summary:
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.
No excerpt available.
