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The Care and Handling of Roses With Thorns
Thirty-six-year-old Gal Garner lives a regimented life. Her job teaching biology and her struggle with kidney disease keep her toggling between the high school, the hospital, and her home on a strict schedule.
Only at home, in her garden, does Gal come alive. It's here that she experiments with Hulthemia roses, painstakingly cross-pollinating various specimens in the hopes of creating a brand-new variation of spectacular beauty. But even her passion has a highly structured goal: Gal wants to win Queen of Show in a major competition and bring that rose to market.
Then one afternoon Gal's teenaged niece Riley, the daughter of her estranged sister, arrives. Unannounced. Neither one of them will ever be the same.
Filled with gorgeous details of the art of rose breeding, The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns is a testament to the redemptive power of love.
Only at home, in her garden, does Gal come alive. It's here that she experiments with Hulthemia roses, painstakingly cross-pollinating various specimens in the hopes of creating a brand-new variation of spectacular beauty. But even her passion has a highly structured goal: Gal wants to win Queen of Show in a major competition and bring that rose to market.
Then one afternoon Gal's teenaged niece Riley, the daughter of her estranged sister, arrives. Unannounced. Neither one of them will ever be the same.
Filled with gorgeous details of the art of rose breeding, The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns is a testament to the redemptive power of love.
354 pages, Hardcover
First published August 2, 2012
36 people are currently reading
4,684 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Dilloway
12books443followersAward-Winning Books for Preteens and Adults
Margaret started writing stories in kindergarten. Ever since then, she's used writing to understand the world and entertain people.
She loves improv, attempting complicated baking recipes, hiking, and dollhouse miniatures.
Awards:
-MOMOTARO: XANDER AND THE LOST ISLAND OF MONSTERS: Winner of the American Library Association's Asian/Pacific American Librarian Honor Award
-THE CARE AND HANDLING OF ROSES WITH THORNS. American Library Association's Literary Tastes Award for Best Women's Fiction
Margaret started writing stories in kindergarten. Ever since then, she's used writing to understand the world and entertain people.
She loves improv, attempting complicated baking recipes, hiking, and dollhouse miniatures.
Awards:
-MOMOTARO: XANDER AND THE LOST ISLAND OF MONSTERS: Winner of the American Library Association's Asian/Pacific American Librarian Honor Award
-THE CARE AND HANDLING OF ROSES WITH THORNS. American Library Association's Literary Tastes Award for Best Women's Fiction
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 468 reviews
April 7, 2023
Why I chose to listen to this audiobook:
1. a GR friend, Barbara, wrote such an interesting review that I just had to add it to my WTR list; and,
2. March 2023 is my "Realistic Fiction" Month.
Praises:
1. MC Galilee "Gal" Garner is as real as you can get! I love stories about mature characters who are flawed, because they remind me of myself!
Gal, a strict high-school biology teacher working in a parochial Catholic school, is also a diligent rose breeder (I learned a lot about caring for my own roses!) She also suffers from chronic kidney disease while waiting for a transplant as she goes for frequent dialysis treatments. On top of that, she begrudgingly assumes responsibility for her teenage niece. Riley, daughter of her unreliable sister, Becca;
2. author paints a tremendously relatable picture of Gal's relationships with her family, her colleagues, her students, her rose-breeder associates, her doctors, and her fellow dialysis patients. Sometimes Gal made me chuckle and sometimes she made me shake my head, but it's nice to see that she eventually becomes more aware of her own failings towards others. Although I sympathized with her, she never came across as a sappy sentimentalist;
3. Andrea Gallo is the perfect narrator for Gal! and,
4. some readers might have preferred a story where all of Gal's problems are neatly tied up; however, I thought the ending was perfect because it left me thinking that life goes on, leaving us to wonder what will be.
Niggles: None!
Overall Thoughts:
If you like reading about curmudgeons like or , then you would love Gal in !
I enjoyed Dilloway's writing style in this book and would be open to reading more by her! Five solid stars and a new "Favorite" for my GR bookshelf!
1. a GR friend, Barbara, wrote such an interesting review that I just had to add it to my WTR list; and,
2. March 2023 is my "Realistic Fiction" Month.
Praises:
1. MC Galilee "Gal" Garner is as real as you can get! I love stories about mature characters who are flawed, because they remind me of myself!
Gal, a strict high-school biology teacher working in a parochial Catholic school, is also a diligent rose breeder (I learned a lot about caring for my own roses!) She also suffers from chronic kidney disease while waiting for a transplant as she goes for frequent dialysis treatments. On top of that, she begrudgingly assumes responsibility for her teenage niece. Riley, daughter of her unreliable sister, Becca;
2. author paints a tremendously relatable picture of Gal's relationships with her family, her colleagues, her students, her rose-breeder associates, her doctors, and her fellow dialysis patients. Sometimes Gal made me chuckle and sometimes she made me shake my head, but it's nice to see that she eventually becomes more aware of her own failings towards others. Although I sympathized with her, she never came across as a sappy sentimentalist;
3. Andrea Gallo is the perfect narrator for Gal! and,
4. some readers might have preferred a story where all of Gal's problems are neatly tied up; however, I thought the ending was perfect because it left me thinking that life goes on, leaving us to wonder what will be.
Niggles: None!
Overall Thoughts:
If you like reading about curmudgeons like or , then you would love Gal in !
I enjoyed Dilloway's writing style in this book and would be open to reading more by her! Five solid stars and a new "Favorite" for my GR bookshelf!
April 7, 2023
"Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns, I am thankful that thorns have roses" I love this quote, and it is in the beginning of the book. This is a story of a curmudgeon who most people just see her surliness, yet her friends see her individual beauty. She's a thorn but is a rose. I love this book because she is a rose breeder, a world I knew nothing about nor had given much thought about. Also, she has kidney disease, another world I hadn't given much thought about. It made me appreciate my high functioning kidneys, and also understand what those with kidney disease goes through....and it affects the person, family, friends, and work colleagues. Plus, I love a good drama about family relationships and "prickly" people. We often don't look at our own prickly people to see their rose, and everyone has their rose.
July 23, 2013
Galilee Garner can be as prickly and sensitive as the roses she breeds in her southern California backyard, but when her teenaged niece arrives on her doorstep unexpectedly, temporarily homeless and motherless, Gal manages far beyond providing nutrient requirements.
Thirty-eight, unmarried, and with no children of her own, Gal is a strict disciplinarian. She teaches high school science and coaches the Science Team in addition to showing her roses in national competitions. Although schooled in the scientific method --do this and then this to get that result--she knows there is also an elusive, intangible, unquantifiable factor involved in successful rose-breeding and in life called “luck.�
Dilloway has written a story that engages our senses (sight, smell, touch) and our whole mind: we are presented with constraints and conditions that must be taken into account when cogitating the deceptively “small� and everyday ethical questions Gal encounters as she teaches, and as she competes in rose shows. I would not be surprised to learn that Ms. Dilloway was schooled in philosophy, so much does this charmingly light and easy read recall the work of , Scottish philosopher and author, whose series likewise raises sticky ethical issues we often encounter in our own lives.
This novel qualifies as a romance, though it is not typical in any way. For one thing, our main character is crusty and opinionated—rendering her unlikeable in the eyes of many. But she is clever, too, and principled, and a very good teacher. She also has a life-threatening condition which hampers her activities and constrains her choices. While her illness precludes some opportunities, it has also given her opportunities. It is when Gal realizes her bounty and discovers not what she lacks but what she already has, that she becomes a person that people want to have as a friend.
I am a sucker for books about gardening, its failures and its delights. I also like books about people managing to overcome--or manage in spite of--things in their physical or psychological makeup that would hold them back from living a full life. This novel raises plenty of important issues that we might encounter in our own lives, and gently guides us through possible outcomes.
Thirty-eight, unmarried, and with no children of her own, Gal is a strict disciplinarian. She teaches high school science and coaches the Science Team in addition to showing her roses in national competitions. Although schooled in the scientific method --do this and then this to get that result--she knows there is also an elusive, intangible, unquantifiable factor involved in successful rose-breeding and in life called “luck.�
Dilloway has written a story that engages our senses (sight, smell, touch) and our whole mind: we are presented with constraints and conditions that must be taken into account when cogitating the deceptively “small� and everyday ethical questions Gal encounters as she teaches, and as she competes in rose shows. I would not be surprised to learn that Ms. Dilloway was schooled in philosophy, so much does this charmingly light and easy read recall the work of , Scottish philosopher and author, whose series likewise raises sticky ethical issues we often encounter in our own lives.
This novel qualifies as a romance, though it is not typical in any way. For one thing, our main character is crusty and opinionated—rendering her unlikeable in the eyes of many. But she is clever, too, and principled, and a very good teacher. She also has a life-threatening condition which hampers her activities and constrains her choices. While her illness precludes some opportunities, it has also given her opportunities. It is when Gal realizes her bounty and discovers not what she lacks but what she already has, that she becomes a person that people want to have as a friend.
I am a sucker for books about gardening, its failures and its delights. I also like books about people managing to overcome--or manage in spite of--things in their physical or psychological makeup that would hold them back from living a full life. This novel raises plenty of important issues that we might encounter in our own lives, and gently guides us through possible outcomes.
September 4, 2019
Simpatična knjiga... i to je sve :)
October 7, 2020
This book does something important that is relatively rare; it portrays a main character with serious chronic illness sympathetically but without sentimentality or pity. Galilee is waiting for her third kidney transplant when she is suddenly confronted with the responsibility of caring for her teenage niece who's feckless alcoholic mother has randomly swanned off to Hong Kong. Because she has never believed in feeling sorry for herself, Galilee steps up to the task. People with disabilities or chronic illnesses that cause energy deficit may recognize and relate to some of the strategies Gal uses to manage her health and life. She is not given to strong emotion � it takes too much energy! Her illness has affected the shaping of her personality; because she feels she has never had a break in life and has still succeeded, her expectations of others, especially healthy others, are extremely high. Successfully caring for a young person requires a level of flexibility that Gal has never had before, and much of the plot revolves around the question of whether she will develop it quickly enough to benefit her niece who has had an undisciplined and chaotic childhood. Gal has a hobby--breeding roses-- which she is fanatically serious about. Though I am not a plant person, this book made the topic of caring for Rose is interesting. The book is also concerned with the effect illness or disability can have on family dynamics, and This difficult subject is handled with wisdom and sensitivity. If you're in the mood for a character driven story with heart, give this one a try.
June 18, 2012
A book I mentioned in the Book Expo's Librarian Shout 'n Share session.
While this appears to be a "how-to" manual, it's actually a well-crafted novel of a woman's life. Despite having chronic kidney disease, "Gal" has carved out a life for herself while going between dialysis, teaching AP biology to high school students, and breeding new rose hybrids, but her strict life develops a kink when her 15-year-old niece comes to live with her. This novel has fabulous well-drawn characters and a story that will leave you moved.
Due to published in August 2012.
While this appears to be a "how-to" manual, it's actually a well-crafted novel of a woman's life. Despite having chronic kidney disease, "Gal" has carved out a life for herself while going between dialysis, teaching AP biology to high school students, and breeding new rose hybrids, but her strict life develops a kink when her 15-year-old niece comes to live with her. This novel has fabulous well-drawn characters and a story that will leave you moved.
Due to published in August 2012.
September 14, 2016
Gal Garner dugi se niz godina bori s bolešću bubrega, zbog koje svaki drugi dan provodi u bolnici na dijalizi. Gal je povučena i ne osobito druželjubiva, a ono što joj život čini ljepšim je briga za njene ruže i pokušaji da uzgoji novu vrstu i s njom pobijedi na okružnom sajmu.
Kad se jednog dana, u školi u kojoj Gal predaje biologiju, pojavi Galina nećakinja Riley, Gal će, iako to u tom prvom momentu ne shvaća, na skrb dobiti još jednu, prilično trnovitu, ružu - onu u ljudskom tinejdžerskom obliku. Gal i Riley zajedno će se morati probiti kroz trnje međusobnog odnosa, kao i odnosa s Rileynom majkom, a ono što će njih dvije na kraju uzgojiti i odnjegovati, moglo bi zasjeniti i najljepšu ružu Galinog ružičnjaka.
Naslov 'Uzgoj i njega trnovitih ruža', iako ruže doista zauzimaju dobar dio romana, ovdje se više koristi u prenesenom značenju i odnosi se na brigu i njegu međuljudskih, posebno obiteljskih odnosa, koji često znaju biti puno trnovitiji od samih ruža.
Ovu priču okarakterizirala bih kao obiteljsku dramu, koja seže duboko u svijest vlastitih likova i propituje prirodu njihovih međusobnih odnosa. Isprva sam mislila da je Riley trnovita ruža koju će Galina skrb pretvoriti u predivan cvijet, ali zapravo, mislim da je Rileyn utjecaj na Gal jednako snažan. Obje trebaju nekoga da se za njih brine i da im bude podrška, u biti nekoga tko će jednostavno samo biti uz njih kada im je to potrebno, iako niti jedna od njih to nikada ne bi priznala. Obje se služe 'trnjem' kako bi odbile druge da im se previše približe, a osobu koja će na koncu ipak do njih doprijeti one pronalaze jedna u drugoj.
Unatoč svojoj gunđavosti i čangrizavosti, svidjela mi se Gal, a na svo to gunđanje zapravo ima pravo, s obzirom na to kroz što je sve morala proći zbog svoje bolesti. Mukotrpan je to i neizvjestan život, u kojem ne znaš zapravo hoćeš li ikada ozdraviti. Jedina ti je šansa transplantacija, do koje možeš doći jedino mučnim čekanjem da se pomakneš za koje mjesto na vječno dugoj listi kandidata, a čak i kada dođe do toga, uvijek postoji ona sablasna šansa da tvoje tijelo odbaci novi organ. Galina te priča, u tom smislu, natjera da pomisliš koliko je takvih ljudi na tim listama, koji žive svoje živote u stalnoj neizvjesnosti i opasnosti od nenadanog približavanja smrti.
Riley je, s druge strane, usamljena tinejdžerica za koju njena majka, zbog prirode svog posla, rijetko kada ima vremena, a nedostatak vremena i pažnje koje joj posvećuje nastoji nadoknaditi skupim darovima. Kao i svi tinejdžeri, i Riley je buntovna, ponekad nerazumna, ponekad pretjerano povučena u sebe, a ponekad previše sklona rizicima. No Riley je također draga, brižna i želi pomoći Gal, iako to često radi tako da učini upravo suprotno.
Ruže su također bitan dio ovog romana, budući da su one praktički okosnica Galinog života. Nekima će opisi pravilnog uzgoja ruža i brige za njih biti nezanimljivi, ukoliko je to tema kojoj niste baš nimalo skloni, ali, s moje strane, kao nekoga tko nije pretjerano zainteresiran za vrtlarstvo općenito, mogu reći da meni to u ovoj knjizi nije smetalo, dapače, bilo je i prilično zanimljivo.
Što se tiče same radnje, ne događa se baš puno toga, i sporo se odvija. Nema baš ni nekih iznenađenja niti obrata, sve nekako mirno teče u jednom smjeru, bez nepredvidivih brzaca i oštrih zaokreta. Ovo je jedna staložena, mirna priča o obiteljskim i osobnim dramama koje se odvijaju tiho, ne vrište, i ugodna je za čitanje. Ne mogu reći da me sad nešto posebno oduševila, ali svidjela mi se.
Kad se jednog dana, u školi u kojoj Gal predaje biologiju, pojavi Galina nećakinja Riley, Gal će, iako to u tom prvom momentu ne shvaća, na skrb dobiti još jednu, prilično trnovitu, ružu - onu u ljudskom tinejdžerskom obliku. Gal i Riley zajedno će se morati probiti kroz trnje međusobnog odnosa, kao i odnosa s Rileynom majkom, a ono što će njih dvije na kraju uzgojiti i odnjegovati, moglo bi zasjeniti i najljepšu ružu Galinog ružičnjaka.
Naslov 'Uzgoj i njega trnovitih ruža', iako ruže doista zauzimaju dobar dio romana, ovdje se više koristi u prenesenom značenju i odnosi se na brigu i njegu međuljudskih, posebno obiteljskih odnosa, koji često znaju biti puno trnovitiji od samih ruža.
Ovu priču okarakterizirala bih kao obiteljsku dramu, koja seže duboko u svijest vlastitih likova i propituje prirodu njihovih međusobnih odnosa. Isprva sam mislila da je Riley trnovita ruža koju će Galina skrb pretvoriti u predivan cvijet, ali zapravo, mislim da je Rileyn utjecaj na Gal jednako snažan. Obje trebaju nekoga da se za njih brine i da im bude podrška, u biti nekoga tko će jednostavno samo biti uz njih kada im je to potrebno, iako niti jedna od njih to nikada ne bi priznala. Obje se služe 'trnjem' kako bi odbile druge da im se previše približe, a osobu koja će na koncu ipak do njih doprijeti one pronalaze jedna u drugoj.
Unatoč svojoj gunđavosti i čangrizavosti, svidjela mi se Gal, a na svo to gunđanje zapravo ima pravo, s obzirom na to kroz što je sve morala proći zbog svoje bolesti. Mukotrpan je to i neizvjestan život, u kojem ne znaš zapravo hoćeš li ikada ozdraviti. Jedina ti je šansa transplantacija, do koje možeš doći jedino mučnim čekanjem da se pomakneš za koje mjesto na vječno dugoj listi kandidata, a čak i kada dođe do toga, uvijek postoji ona sablasna šansa da tvoje tijelo odbaci novi organ. Galina te priča, u tom smislu, natjera da pomisliš koliko je takvih ljudi na tim listama, koji žive svoje živote u stalnoj neizvjesnosti i opasnosti od nenadanog približavanja smrti.
Riley je, s druge strane, usamljena tinejdžerica za koju njena majka, zbog prirode svog posla, rijetko kada ima vremena, a nedostatak vremena i pažnje koje joj posvećuje nastoji nadoknaditi skupim darovima. Kao i svi tinejdžeri, i Riley je buntovna, ponekad nerazumna, ponekad pretjerano povučena u sebe, a ponekad previše sklona rizicima. No Riley je također draga, brižna i želi pomoći Gal, iako to često radi tako da učini upravo suprotno.
Ruže su također bitan dio ovog romana, budući da su one praktički okosnica Galinog života. Nekima će opisi pravilnog uzgoja ruža i brige za njih biti nezanimljivi, ukoliko je to tema kojoj niste baš nimalo skloni, ali, s moje strane, kao nekoga tko nije pretjerano zainteresiran za vrtlarstvo općenito, mogu reći da meni to u ovoj knjizi nije smetalo, dapače, bilo je i prilično zanimljivo.
Što se tiče same radnje, ne događa se baš puno toga, i sporo se odvija. Nema baš ni nekih iznenađenja niti obrata, sve nekako mirno teče u jednom smjeru, bez nepredvidivih brzaca i oštrih zaokreta. Ovo je jedna staložena, mirna priča o obiteljskim i osobnim dramama koje se odvijaju tiho, ne vrište, i ugodna je za čitanje. Ne mogu reći da me sad nešto posebno oduševila, ali svidjela mi se.
April 20, 2017
osnova priče možda nije previše originalna, ali je ispričana na zanimljiv način, sa zanimljivim likovima, i toplim optimizmom koji prevladava usprkos svemu, i zato je bila vrlo ugodno štivo.
October 17, 2012
What’s not to love in a story with a main character as prickly as the very thorned roses she tends to? Such is the case of 36-year-old biology teacher Galilee Garner � Gal for short � who says, “I love the Hulthemia roses. They are difficult and obstinate, thriving when I introduce them to an impossible variety of conditions.� Gal, a kidney dialysis patient from childhood to adulthood, shows that same fortitude throughout the story.
A self-proclaimed “half-assed optimist,� her direct, no-nonsense ways often pit others against her. But as the story progresses and we see the sudden entry of Gal’s niece, Riley, into her life, Gal begins to soften in ever-so-subtle ways. Dilloway did such a fabulous job of characterizing Gal and really drawing to light the question of “how rigidly should we live our lives?� Gal is a rule-follower and clearly believes the world is a series of absolutes: everything is black-and-white, made up of right and wrong, punishments and rewards. She’s bossy and opinionated, but those same traits have helped her survive a life of every-other-day dialysis.
Gal’s emotional growth throughout the story parallels the growth and transformation of the very roses she cultivates, propagates and breeds for competition (thorny rose bushes transform, softening into beautiful petals when cared for properly). Not only that, we see that the extreme care needed to keep roses alive is such an apt metaphor for the extreme care and lifestyle needed to keep a dialysis patient alive. I LOVE this literary technique, and it’s done so well in this book. Growth is a powerful theme throughout this novel about the meaning of family, of letting go, of trusting, and of living.
I especially enjoyed learning about roses and their care � and thought The Complete Rose Guide entries sprinkled throughout added a nice touch and a wonderful tie-in at the end of the book.
A self-proclaimed “half-assed optimist,� her direct, no-nonsense ways often pit others against her. But as the story progresses and we see the sudden entry of Gal’s niece, Riley, into her life, Gal begins to soften in ever-so-subtle ways. Dilloway did such a fabulous job of characterizing Gal and really drawing to light the question of “how rigidly should we live our lives?� Gal is a rule-follower and clearly believes the world is a series of absolutes: everything is black-and-white, made up of right and wrong, punishments and rewards. She’s bossy and opinionated, but those same traits have helped her survive a life of every-other-day dialysis.
Gal’s emotional growth throughout the story parallels the growth and transformation of the very roses she cultivates, propagates and breeds for competition (thorny rose bushes transform, softening into beautiful petals when cared for properly). Not only that, we see that the extreme care needed to keep roses alive is such an apt metaphor for the extreme care and lifestyle needed to keep a dialysis patient alive. I LOVE this literary technique, and it’s done so well in this book. Growth is a powerful theme throughout this novel about the meaning of family, of letting go, of trusting, and of living.
I especially enjoyed learning about roses and their care � and thought The Complete Rose Guide entries sprinkled throughout added a nice touch and a wonderful tie-in at the end of the book.
July 24, 2012
The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns is a wonderful character-driven story, featuring one of the most compelling, complex protagonists I've ever read. It's a beautifully written novel that opened my eyes to both the hardships of dialysis and the fascinating world of rose breeding.
December 25, 2013
"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."
Gal has struggled all her life with a kidney failure, going to dialysis several times a week, hoping upon hope that she'll get a transplant soon. While she waits, she teaches biology very strictly at the local Catholic high school, and cultivates roses. As an amateur breeder, she tries to create a unique new strain of the Hulthemia rose. When her niece Riley turns up unannounced, she turns Gal's well-ordered life inside out... and breathes fresh life in.
Gal is a bit of an odd fish - but to me, a fairly understandable one. She sees everything very much in black and white, is ambitious and scientific and colours very much within the lines. She's so keen to be considered a legitimate rose competitor, to be validated, while she copes with the devastating reality of her kidney issues. Dilloway includes in Gal the depression of a chronic illness sufferer, the logistical difficulties of dialysis and rose-tending, and the elation, jealousy and heartbreak of watching other patients on the same transplant list.
Like all these types of books (Looking for Me, Sisterland, Meet Me At the Cupcake Cafe, Love Anthony), the writing is easy and munchable without impediment, but equally not unappetising. Extra characters are as developed as necessary (i.e. often, not very), and certain conflicts and romances are easily foretold. The drama of the kidney failure is in a sense secondary to the main suspense of the Riley-Gal relationship.
Riley, the unexpected teenager, is the unsung heroine of this story. It would have been easy to cast the teenager as the disruption, the troublemaker, but Riley is actually a cleverly constructed character, full of surprises and gentle actions rather than trouble. She's honest but sullen, open and secretive in turns.
Not difficult to read at all - but quite good fun.
Gal has struggled all her life with a kidney failure, going to dialysis several times a week, hoping upon hope that she'll get a transplant soon. While she waits, she teaches biology very strictly at the local Catholic high school, and cultivates roses. As an amateur breeder, she tries to create a unique new strain of the Hulthemia rose. When her niece Riley turns up unannounced, she turns Gal's well-ordered life inside out... and breathes fresh life in.
Gal is a bit of an odd fish - but to me, a fairly understandable one. She sees everything very much in black and white, is ambitious and scientific and colours very much within the lines. She's so keen to be considered a legitimate rose competitor, to be validated, while she copes with the devastating reality of her kidney issues. Dilloway includes in Gal the depression of a chronic illness sufferer, the logistical difficulties of dialysis and rose-tending, and the elation, jealousy and heartbreak of watching other patients on the same transplant list.
Like all these types of books (Looking for Me, Sisterland, Meet Me At the Cupcake Cafe, Love Anthony), the writing is easy and munchable without impediment, but equally not unappetising. Extra characters are as developed as necessary (i.e. often, not very), and certain conflicts and romances are easily foretold. The drama of the kidney failure is in a sense secondary to the main suspense of the Riley-Gal relationship.
Riley, the unexpected teenager, is the unsung heroine of this story. It would have been easy to cast the teenager as the disruption, the troublemaker, but Riley is actually a cleverly constructed character, full of surprises and gentle actions rather than trouble. She's honest but sullen, open and secretive in turns.
Not difficult to read at all - but quite good fun.
August 5, 2012
The fleeting perfection of an exquisite rose in bloom is something human beings cannot hope themselves to attain. Even so, people nurture, cultivate, feed, water and lavish loving attention upon the thorny splendor of the rose. In "The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns", author Margaret Dilloway introduces us to just such a person. Gal Garner is a teacher, a dialysis patient, and a grower of roses. Not just any roses, but specially cross-pollinated hybrid roses, which she hopes will win "Queen of Show" in an important competition and lead to a marketing contract. Gal's health issues are a serious concern, as two kidney transplants have failed. Nothing is ever smooth and simple, from her time in the classroom to her time spent at the hospital. It is her work with her beloved roses that fires the spark within. Gal's life takes on a completely unexpected twisty turn when her teenaged niece, Riley, is suddenly left in her care. Gal and Riley's mother, Becky, have always had a difficult, complicated relationship as sisters. Nearing forty, sharply honest, with no family of her own, Gal is abruptly made responsible for Riley when Becky takes off for Asia due to her job requirements. At first, Gal and Riley are like two prickly stems, sharp and full of thorns. In time, companionship, trust, and love come into bloom between them, and when Becky comes home to claim her daughter, Gal is hit hard by how much she will miss Riley's presence in her life. What will be Riley's choice--the new happiness she has found with Gal, or the promise of an improved life with her own mother? "The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns" illuminates and enlightens with its information not only on the intricacies of the cultivation of roses, but also on the needs of the human heart and its infinite capacity to love.
Review Copy Gratis Amazon Vine
Review Copy Gratis Amazon Vine
August 6, 2013
I think why I wrestled with finishing this book is because I did not like the main character for most of it. First, she was the kind of teacher that I dread working with (in it for vacations, test scores and the love of her subject, not kids). I expected (and hoped) in the novel to see her grow into a more compassionate and understanding person who saw her students as human beings, not just kids to get good grades on a test, and that never really happens. Only briefly at the end do we get to see her actually show compassion to a student, but with a very high opinion of her own self for giving this compassion.
She is also extremely tough on the people around her, and while by the end of the book she has shed this hard exterior, I never felt like I really understood why. It sort of happens by her getting everything that she wants, but that felt like shallow reasoning and wasn't enough to make me feel anything for her.
The book was entertaining on the same level as a Hallmark movie. Yet, it lacked the depth of development for me to ever feel like I was rooting for the main character (or even cared that she could change).
She is also extremely tough on the people around her, and while by the end of the book she has shed this hard exterior, I never felt like I really understood why. It sort of happens by her getting everything that she wants, but that felt like shallow reasoning and wasn't enough to make me feel anything for her.
The book was entertaining on the same level as a Hallmark movie. Yet, it lacked the depth of development for me to ever feel like I was rooting for the main character (or even cared that she could change).
May 4, 2012
I really enjoyed the unconventional protagonist, the authentic portrayal of that character, and the choices the author made at the end of the story. Thank you, Margaret Dilloway for a beautiful bloom of a book.
July 19, 2019
This is one of those books where every single star rating applied. Sometimes it was 1 star, and sometimes it was 5 stars....as well as everything in between. I'm going with 3 because I did like this. I think the one thing that made that possible, was the honesty of the MC, Galilee (Gal for short). She wasn't warm and fuzzy, but her honesty made her easy to relate to.
When this book started, it literally kicked off with the care and handling of growing roses and propagating them. I thought, "I didn't know this was nonfiction." Well, it wasn't, (thank heaven). I liked Riley too.
When this book started, it literally kicked off with the care and handling of growing roses and propagating them. I thought, "I didn't know this was nonfiction." Well, it wasn't, (thank heaven). I liked Riley too.
April 25, 2025
Solidna.
July 10, 2012
Galilee (known as Gal) Garner is a 38-year-old biology teacher who breeds roses as a hobby. She's a loner, with her only friend being the art teacher at her private school. And she's on dialysis a few times a week, thanks to not only having had her kidneys die when she was a child but having rejected two donated kidneys; her doctor has her on the transplant list, but there are some blood flow problems to contend with first. The parents at her school are not happy with her, because in addition to teaching AP Biology, she's one of the hardest grader in the school - frequently failing more than half her students when they don't meet expectations on her tests. Gal is one of those curmudgeons, blunt to the point of rudeness, never allowing for ambiguity or softness in her transactions. One day her niece, Riley, appears. Becky, Riley's mother and Gal's older sister, has suddenly been transferred to Hong Kong and sent Riley to stay with Gal.
This is a book that asks the rather cliched questions: will Gal soften? will Riley settle in and enjoy living with Gal? will Becky and Gal reconcile? will Gal get a new kidney? etc. With only one exception, those questions are all answered in the way one would assume. If the author had been a little bolder with her choices, this would have been a more enjoyable book.
There's a lot in here about how to breed roses, which was interesting. The discussions of how to breed them, care for them and what the different types in some ways mirror Gal's year pre- and post-Riley's arrival, and the somewhat cutthroat nature of the rose shows was a little surprising.
A minor quibble: AP exams are in May, not June (though that might be one of the the things that changes between now and official publication).
ARC provided by publisher.
This is a book that asks the rather cliched questions: will Gal soften? will Riley settle in and enjoy living with Gal? will Becky and Gal reconcile? will Gal get a new kidney? etc. With only one exception, those questions are all answered in the way one would assume. If the author had been a little bolder with her choices, this would have been a more enjoyable book.
There's a lot in here about how to breed roses, which was interesting. The discussions of how to breed them, care for them and what the different types in some ways mirror Gal's year pre- and post-Riley's arrival, and the somewhat cutthroat nature of the rose shows was a little surprising.
A minor quibble: AP exams are in May, not June (though that might be one of the the things that changes between now and official publication).
ARC provided by publisher.
September 6, 2012
I read an advance review copy of The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns. As so many reviewers have already written, Galilee Garner is prickly. You find yourself wanting to give her a swift kick in the pants, but at the same time, it's so obvious that Gal has developed these thorns to cope with an unfair, unwanted situation--the very threat to her own life. So you keep reading, and eventually, you discover the roots of the thorns, and you understand. Yet, Gal makes a remarkable transformation when an equally prickly teen--Gal's sister's more-or-less abandoned daughter--shows up on her doorstep in need of the love and time and care Gal doesn't believe she has to offer. I loved the interaction between Gal and Riley as they first tiptoed, then gradually became stronger and more capable of hammering out their new relationship. I enjoyed the added bonus of a sweet romantic interest for Gal, who herself can't believe others would find her worthy of attention. How to be an American Housewife was one of my favorite reads of 2011, and Dilloway doesn't disappoint in this second, engrossing novel.
May 16, 2019
Više sam očekivala od ove knjige jer je početak obećavao da ovo neće biti samo jedna sladunjava priča kako bi se reklo po naslovnici i sadržaju sa korica. Dobila sam mlaku, neubjedljivu i nedorečenu priču kojom se svašta nešto dotaklo ali samo dotaklo, kao da se autorica nije mogla odlučiti na šta se zapravo fokusirati. Ocjena je od mene negdje između dvije i tri zvjezdice, ali pošto ŷ tako ne dozvoljava onda neka idu tri.
November 18, 2017
I didn't love this as much as How to be an American Housewife, but it is still good. I really grew to like the character Gal, she is gritty and sarcastic and despite her kidney disease, has a predictable routine life until her niece shows up at her door! I did like all the details about roses thrown in the story, I think I learned a few tips to try on my roses.
August 5, 2012
The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns is about feisty, thirty-six-year-old Galilee Garner, a science teacher and rose breeder with kidney disease who is suddenly left to care for her teenage niece, Riley, when her delinquent sister takes a job overseas. For a woman who would rather rub aphids off rose leaves, inheriting a girl with social issues while dealing with dialysis every other night does not exactly excite her. Troubles at her job with her principal and also with her best friend, the art teacher, exacerbate Gal’s wish to hide away in her greenhouse and never come out. As Gal and her niece begin to bond over roses, Gal’s health and other relationships start to fail, and it takes losing almost everything for Gal to realize how blessed she truly is.
Gal Garner is an original and endearing character. Her stubbornness and wit in the face of her life’s adversity make for amusing commentary, and she almost never feels sorry for herself. Her honesty is both shocking and refreshing, and readers will pull for her from the first chapter. The way that Dilloway weaves in her extraordinary knowledge of growing and breeding roses as a metaphor for her thorny characters and relationships is brilliant, and her character development is smooth and believable. Readers should prepare to cry while reading this book, but not from anything predictable or sentimental, only the exquisite beauty of humanity illustrated by a sure and capable hand.
The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns is one of my favorite books of 2012. If you enjoy stories of hope, healing, and family, I strongly encourage you to read this novel. I give it my highest recommendation.
Gal Garner is an original and endearing character. Her stubbornness and wit in the face of her life’s adversity make for amusing commentary, and she almost never feels sorry for herself. Her honesty is both shocking and refreshing, and readers will pull for her from the first chapter. The way that Dilloway weaves in her extraordinary knowledge of growing and breeding roses as a metaphor for her thorny characters and relationships is brilliant, and her character development is smooth and believable. Readers should prepare to cry while reading this book, but not from anything predictable or sentimental, only the exquisite beauty of humanity illustrated by a sure and capable hand.
The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns is one of my favorite books of 2012. If you enjoy stories of hope, healing, and family, I strongly encourage you to read this novel. I give it my highest recommendation.
August 5, 2012
The Care And Handling Of Roses With Thorns
By
Margaret Dilloway
My " in a nutshell" summary...
Gal has kidney disease. Gal loves roses. Gal gets a surprise visit from her niece. Gal is gruff and has lots of issues.
My thoughts after reading this book...
My heart sort of melted as I read this book...there were so many characters that made me feel so much for them...Gal and Riley and Walters and Gal's mom. Gal's illness has caused her mom to just feel so guilty. Gal needs a new kidney and this isn't even her first time...her regimented life due to her kidney disease is very difficult...diet, dialysis, her small stature. Gal teaches at a small private school and has a passion for roses. She is tough on her students and she is tough on herself. When her niece Riley shows up at her school one day...it just becomes one more grievance against her older irresponsible sister. Reading this book was like following the growth and changes in all the characters over the course of a few months. People come and go. Perceptions are altered. There are lots of "aha" moments.
What I loved about this book...
This book was full of interesting people. Gal...the tough no nonsense teacher that parents don't like. Riley...sweet and confused. Walters...needs his own new kidney and tries to help Gal. Gal's mom...so worried about Gal all of the time...Dara...Gal's best friend...Mr. Morton...potential love interest. Every character was a great study for me.
What I didn't love...
All the science and roses stuff...I'm with Riley in this one.
Final stuff...
I found this book to be terribly appealing and thought provoking...I really loved it.
By
Margaret Dilloway
My " in a nutshell" summary...
Gal has kidney disease. Gal loves roses. Gal gets a surprise visit from her niece. Gal is gruff and has lots of issues.
My thoughts after reading this book...
My heart sort of melted as I read this book...there were so many characters that made me feel so much for them...Gal and Riley and Walters and Gal's mom. Gal's illness has caused her mom to just feel so guilty. Gal needs a new kidney and this isn't even her first time...her regimented life due to her kidney disease is very difficult...diet, dialysis, her small stature. Gal teaches at a small private school and has a passion for roses. She is tough on her students and she is tough on herself. When her niece Riley shows up at her school one day...it just becomes one more grievance against her older irresponsible sister. Reading this book was like following the growth and changes in all the characters over the course of a few months. People come and go. Perceptions are altered. There are lots of "aha" moments.
What I loved about this book...
This book was full of interesting people. Gal...the tough no nonsense teacher that parents don't like. Riley...sweet and confused. Walters...needs his own new kidney and tries to help Gal. Gal's mom...so worried about Gal all of the time...Dara...Gal's best friend...Mr. Morton...potential love interest. Every character was a great study for me.
What I didn't love...
All the science and roses stuff...I'm with Riley in this one.
Final stuff...
I found this book to be terribly appealing and thought provoking...I really loved it.
July 25, 2015
Galilee (Gal) Garner breed roses - as an escape from her wait for a kidney transplant and a hobby apart from her job as a high school biology teacher. She is as prickly and as particular as her flowers. She does not bend to convention or authority; she has no patience for those she feels are frivolous or those who don't try hard enough- be they other dialysis patients, her students or fellow teachers. Her life is regimented and scheduled. Teaching by day, breeding and caring for the roses in most of her free time, and overnight dialysis every other day. Her goals are limited - to breed a "Queen of Show" rose and to get to the top of the kidney transplant list. She is not the most likable protagonist.
Enter her niece Riley, daughter of Gal's less than responsible sister. Riley arrives in the middle of the school day, having been put on a bus so her mother can take an overseas work assignment. Suddenly Gal has to parent a sometimes morose, but usually typical, adolescent. The experience changes Gal, softening her bluntness and showing her that other opinions aren't always wrong just because they are not hers.
Overall, a well written story with believable characters and situations. While not all the issues are resolved in the end, they are on the way there. And resolving everything would have felt forced and unrealistic.
Enter her niece Riley, daughter of Gal's less than responsible sister. Riley arrives in the middle of the school day, having been put on a bus so her mother can take an overseas work assignment. Suddenly Gal has to parent a sometimes morose, but usually typical, adolescent. The experience changes Gal, softening her bluntness and showing her that other opinions aren't always wrong just because they are not hers.
Overall, a well written story with believable characters and situations. While not all the issues are resolved in the end, they are on the way there. And resolving everything would have felt forced and unrealistic.
June 26, 2017
An enjoyable book about a science teacher, Gal, who struggles with kidney disease while pursuing her passion of cultivating Hulthemia roses. One afternoon her teenage niece, Riley, shows up at her home, unannounced, expecting to be able to live with her while her mother, Gal's estranged sister, works overseas. Gal and Riley have to learn to navigate this new living arrangement and get to know each other and themselves in new ways.
Gal is not exactly a likable character, very prickly and opinionated. Riley is a typical teenager, with mood swings and eye rolls and angst. Given that she comes from a very unstable home life, she can be forgiven a lot. Gal can be forgiven some things, given her health crises, but as an adult, she should have outgrown some of her stubbornness and intractable ways. Her friends forgive her a lot, but she needs to do the same for them a lot more easily.
There is a lot of information about kidney disease and rose cultivation in this book. Both are equally fascinating in their own way.
The book has a satisfying ending but it's not all tied up too neatly, just like real life.
Gal is not exactly a likable character, very prickly and opinionated. Riley is a typical teenager, with mood swings and eye rolls and angst. Given that she comes from a very unstable home life, she can be forgiven a lot. Gal can be forgiven some things, given her health crises, but as an adult, she should have outgrown some of her stubbornness and intractable ways. Her friends forgive her a lot, but she needs to do the same for them a lot more easily.
There is a lot of information about kidney disease and rose cultivation in this book. Both are equally fascinating in their own way.
The book has a satisfying ending but it's not all tied up too neatly, just like real life.
June 2, 2013
A literary and metaphoric exploration of roses. Outwardly delicate, the intricate petals of a rose vary by breed, genetics, and their ability to adapt to various climates. One must first brave a rose's thorny armor in order to truly see its overall beauty. The same could be said about Galilee Garner.
Having suffered from medical challenges her entire life, and having spent the last eight years undergoing dialysis treatments every other day, Gal no longer has time or energy in her life to mince words. She has fought her entire life, survived torturous medical procedures, surely her students can step up and survive her science exams.
Her sister, on the other hand, was born healthy. Gal was often jealous of her sister's normalcy. When her sister leaves for a long term job overseas, Gal finds herself watching after her niece. A shock to her very regimented, quiet existence. Her life revolving around her teaching, her dialysis, and her roses.
Priding herself on her ability to breed roses versus merely raising roses others have perfected, Gal spends much of her life caring for her seedlings and very little time nurturing relationships with others. It isn't until others start to de-thorn her callous exterior that she begins to truly bloom and see that there is life outside her greenhouse walls. Her niece, Riley, a burden at first, and a true obstinate teenager slowly lets down her own guard to see that her Aunt is more than harsh words and roses. Together, this unlikely pair make discoveries that ultimately change both their lives.
Having suffered from medical challenges her entire life, and having spent the last eight years undergoing dialysis treatments every other day, Gal no longer has time or energy in her life to mince words. She has fought her entire life, survived torturous medical procedures, surely her students can step up and survive her science exams.
Her sister, on the other hand, was born healthy. Gal was often jealous of her sister's normalcy. When her sister leaves for a long term job overseas, Gal finds herself watching after her niece. A shock to her very regimented, quiet existence. Her life revolving around her teaching, her dialysis, and her roses.
Priding herself on her ability to breed roses versus merely raising roses others have perfected, Gal spends much of her life caring for her seedlings and very little time nurturing relationships with others. It isn't until others start to de-thorn her callous exterior that she begins to truly bloom and see that there is life outside her greenhouse walls. Her niece, Riley, a burden at first, and a true obstinate teenager slowly lets down her own guard to see that her Aunt is more than harsh words and roses. Together, this unlikely pair make discoveries that ultimately change both their lives.
June 26, 2012
There was much to like about this book. I loved the name Galilee and enjoyed the relationship between her and her niece Riley. Loved the way she learned to compromise and to take care of her relationship just as she took care of her roses. Loved the cover and the title of the book. Think I would have enjoyed this book more if I liked growing and had an interest in propagating new strains of roses. There was quite a lot of this in this book. I liked it but didn't love it.
August 25, 2017
Loved the characters, loved the information about roses and rose breeding and I especially loved the relationships in this story. So glad I read this!
August 21, 2021
This is another book that I have had on my to read list so long that I have both a hard copy and an ebook copy. I could have done without all the technical rose information. Dialysis was an eye opener for me. But all in all it did end a bit predictable.
July 30, 2017
UGH-I LOVED Margaret Dilloway's "How to be an American Housewife" and "Sisters of Heart and Snow", but this one dragged on and on with seemingly no point whatsoever, I couldn't even finish it. BORING.
July 29, 2018
You'll ask yourself how can rose breeding, kidney disease, and teaching, all manifested in Gal Garner, combine to make such a wonderful story. Gal's niece Riley comes to live with her and you watch her blossoming into a young woman. I loved this family story of struggles and redemption.
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