The Care and Handling of Roses With Thorns

Written by Margaret Dilloway

Narrated by Andrea Gallo

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 2, 2012
• ISBN: 9781470327668

Margaret Dilloway

Margaret Dilloway is the author of Summer of a Thousand Pies and six other books for children and adults. She lives with her family in San Diego, where she performs long-form improv on three teams and writes and produces sketch shows. Margaret can be found online at www.margaretdilloway.com.

Reviews for The Care and Handling of Roses With Thorns

[armchairreader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this warm-hearted book very much. The characters are well-drawn and interesting, especially the protagonist, Galilee Garner. She is a science teacher and a bit of a loner, dealing with serious health problems, and is as prickly as the roses she breeds in her greenhouse. Her life changes when her teenaged niece comes to live with her, and the way the author handles their relationship is very true to life (speaking from my own experience as a mom). This is a touching and wise book, and I liked spending time with this little family, and learning about roses too!

[karenherndon · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a review book I received two days ago. I started it yesterday and couldn't put it down until I finished it today! What a sweet story. I loved it! Ifeel privileged to have been able to review this book and would highly recommend it when it is available in August.

[pamelabarrett · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book. Wonderful well told story, with people I could relate to, and it helped that I have lived in most of the cities in the book. Galilee (Gal) Garner is a high school science teacher with an interesting hobby: breeding roses; and she also has a big health problem—she needs a kidney transplant. Her life is divided between teaching in the day and every few nights sitting through dialysis. Because of her life long illness she’s never married or had children. She lives alone and enjoys her healthy days with her close friend Dara, and Brad, a student who helps her tend the roses. Her mom and dad visit frequently, and she (along with her parents) are estranged from her rebel sister. Things are going along pretty well, until her teenage niece Riley shows up and Gal comes up against everything she thought to be true about her relationships, and the effect of her illness on those around her. Riley needs help and Gal doesn’t know how much she can handle. This is the classic example of “Life is what happens when you are making other plans.” Included in the story is some fascinating information about breeding roses, a definite 5 star favorite.

[sunqueen_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a great read! I love a story with a complex and unlikely protagonist, and Galilee Garner was certainly that. Gal was definitely a rose with many thorns.

[whitreidtan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Galilee Garner, called Gal by her few friends, lives a strict and very precisely regimented life. Part of this is out of necessity as she has a chronic kidney disease that has had her on thrice weekly dialysis for almost 10 years after her previous transplants eventually failed. But part of it is who she has become in her life: a bitter, prickly, inflexible, exacting biology teacher at the local Catholic high school who holds her students to impossible standards and who has lost all sense of the social niceties. She is firm and rude and clipped with others believing that she alone is cutting through the BS and being honest and truthful, uncaring of her effect on others. In reality, she has encased herself in a thorny covering to protect herself, to avoid the unwanted pity or the falsely sympathetic. It is only when Gal gets home from her days at school and moves into the solitude and sanctuary of her greenhouses to work with her beloved Hulthemia roses that she blossoms. She is not simply a rose grower, she is a rose breeder, determined to cultivate a rose worthy of being called Queen of Show, to bring the elusive fragrance back to her favorite type of cultivar.When Gal's niece Riley, her estranged addict sister Becky's teenaged daughter, shows up unannounced and unexpected at her school, Gal's carefully guarded life is thrown into turmoil. Riley's mother has sent her to stay while she pursues a job across the globe, neither asking her sister's permission to send her daughter nor preparing her daughter emotionally for the massive changes both of them will have to make to accomodate the other. Riley is fragile after her mother's abandonment, academically behind, emotionally mercurial, and she is slow to fit in with her classmates at the school where Gal teaches. She does try to fit into this aunt she hadn't seen in years' world but she is every bit as damaged a child as Gal is an adult and there are frequent episodes of drama or tantrums from her. Riley's very presence challenges Gal and her notion of refusing to compromise as she tries to suddenly parent a three quarters grown child and comes to realize that the first and most important key to parenting is flexibility, completely counter to the mantra of her life thus far.Gal very definitely starts off as an unlikable character and since she is the first person narrator, this presents a hurdle to the reader. But anyone who stays with the novel will be rewarded by watching Gal slowly change. The changes are neither easy nor absolute but they are honest and presented (complete with backsliding) in the way that real life works. Her tentative opening up of her heart to Riley and the other secondary characters and an eventual serious, close and unflinching examination of herself and her effect on others is well-done and believable. The abrasive Gal of the beginning of the book is kinder and gentler, less judgmental but with her firm moral core still intact, making her more likable over all. The insights into growing roses and the painstaking care with which their breeding occurs is interesting as is the glimpse into the competitive world of showing roses although the breadth of information could overwhelm some readers uninterested in the mechanics of gardening. Life with a chronic disease and the impact that the disease has on every aspect of a person, including personality and varying perceptions of those not suffering such a fate, is fascinating and well-integrated into the story thanks to Gal's self-referential musings. A touching look at the way we live in the world, compassion, how we treat others, and the love we carry for family, this is a quick and rewarding read.

[angela9vaughn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I connected to Gal almost from the start. This character reminded me of my aunt in so many ways. It was a warm and tender book about our connections to the people around us, that we may not even know are there until it is literally thrown in your face. The references to the rose books and the rose theme worked splendidly and if you are like me-you might even learn a few things about the whole rose society. I can't wait to pass this book on to my aunt...I think she will get a kick out of it.

[bnbookgirl · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I found this book to be very similar to Solomon's Oak. Woman with issues, takes in child with issues, and falls gets into a relationship with new man. Not a bad story, but a predictable story. The characters are very well written, each with their own issues they need to work through, but, I did find some of the descriptions rather sticky sweet. I was a bit bogged down by the rose breeding info as well.

[momgee_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

First, let me say I loved Dilloway's How to be an American Housewife. It was one of last year's few 5* reads so I was really looking forward to Dilloway's latest. The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns started out slowly for me with what felt like too much info on kidney disease, dialysis and breeding roses but then it seems like something magical happened and I really got into the storyline. Gal, who I didn't like very much but I did feel like I understood her, became much more likeable once I saw through her prickly exterior to her vulnerability underneath.Gal's life is dictated by her kidney disease and her dialysis schedule. Every other night she has to sleep in the hospital while having dialysis. Even her diet is ruled by her kidneys. Being a biology teacher in a private school is her livelihood but breeding roses is her passion. It's the one way she has some control over things in her life. "Difficult and obstinate. Thriving under a set of specific and limited conditions. That pretty much describes me. Maybe that's why I like roses so much."Being somewhat of a loner is one of her traits along with liking things her way. She's not big into compromise or even seeing the other side of things until the day her niece, Riley, shows up at school. It figures, Gal thinks, that her sister Becky would just send her kid to stay with Gal without even asking her if it were okay. Becky, of whom, Gal does not approve has always been the irresponsible one, the impulsive one, not much of a mother, a drinker and a drug user. None of these things meet with Gal's liking at all. But that's all about to change after this one summer with Riley's unexpected and at first a little unwelcomed stay with her aunt. Dilloway brings her characters to life while exploring family dynamics, the power of forgiveness, self esteem, understanding, hope and love. I grew very fond of all these characters and even the rose breeding parts became interesting. 4****This would make a wonderful book club selection as I think there are many family issues that could be discussed. Disclosure: A review copy of the book was provided by Putnam/LT in exchange for my honest opinion.

[gypsysmom_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A friend recommended this book and so I decided to borrow it from the library. Coincidentally, this is my last read of 2012. I enjoyed the book but thought it was a little predictable.Gal Garner is a biology teacher at a small Catholic high school. She is also an amateur rose breeder, hence the title, and she is waiting for a kidney donor. She's had kidney disease since she was young and has had a donor kidney already but it has failed. She has to go for dialysis every second night so she doesn't have a lot of free time. She is single and hasn't really ever dated. Her parents, who live elsewhere, worry about her. Her older sister Becky has always resented the extra attention Gal gets. That doesn't stop her from neglecting her own daughter, Bailey. When Becky gets a job offer in Hong Kong she puts Bailey on a bus to her Aunt Gal without even notifying Gal. So, along with everything else, Gal has to raise a teen-age girl, one who has double the issues that most teenagers have.I can't judge about the rose breeding but Dilloway has certainly gotten the information about kidney disease and waiting for a transplant right. A friend of mine got a kidney transplant shortly after I met her but I was able to see the effects of the disease on her so I know that's correct. I think, though, that the criteria for matching kidneys has changed and it is much easier to find a donor kidney now or at least easier than Dilloway portrays it. People should still sign their organ donor card though.

[quiltinfun06 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns by Margaret Dilloway is exactly what I expected. It is a rather predictable story centered around a woman who is a dialysis patient who also breeds roses. She lives by herself and is extremely inflexible and hard nosed until her niece comes to live with her. As you might guess, her niece Riley teaches her how to lighten up and live in the moment.I learned a fair amount about breeding roses which was interesting as I love to garden. Beyond that, I thought the book was written well but the story rather bland.

[milibrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Gal Garner is waiting for a kidney transplant, going for dialysis every other night, and trying to avoid catching any viruses from her high school biology students. In her free time she is trying to develop a new breed of roses. She can be a thorny old maid at times, but she is content with her predictable life. Then everything changes--a new chemisty teacher is hired who also has his own ideas for the Science Olympiad, her best friend becomes more distant, and her 15 year old niece moves in while Gal's sister is working overseas. As Gal's life is turned upside down, she is also stretched in her encounters with others and learns what it means to love someone other than herself. Her relationships with family and friends are mirrored in her successes and failures in breeding the perfect rose. This is a great read, chock ful of rose horticulture, laughter, tears, love and forgiveness.

[beamis12 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[kmaziarz_4 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Galilee Garner—Gal for short—is a prickly person at best, and something of a loner. A biology teacher at a private high school, she is known to students and faculty alike as a hard taskmaster, but one who prides herself on turning out more AP exam high-scorers than anyone else. She lives alone, with only one close friend—her polar opposite, the school’s sensitive and outgoing art teacher. She’s also in the end stages of kidney failure and must keep to a strict dialysis schedule to survive. Her one main ambition in life is to breed the next unique, stand-out breed of rose in the greenhouse out back. Gal’s carefully structured existence is thrown into disarray when her unreliable sister’s teenage daughter Riley arrives unannounced on Gal’s front stoop. At first resistant, Gal begins to soften to her niece and the two—one damaged by years of chronic illness, the other by years of neglect and sporadic affection dished out by a drug-addicted mother—form a tentative bond. Riley begins to find herself among her fellow students and Gal finds herself reaching out and making new friends herself, something she never expected.While the rose-related metaphor is the tiniest bit heavy-handed, the story is a touching one as an at first thoroughly unlikeable character begins to develop into a better version of herself and a dysfunctional family comes together with a new understanding of each other’s struggles.

[tjsjohanna_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love a book that gives me that wonderful sense of satisfaction when I come to the end of the tale. Gal Garner is the living embodiment of a rose with thorns and it is a great pleasure to see how her relationships change with the catalyst of her niece coming to live with her. Despite her thorns, people close to her come to appreciate her. And she in turns begins to see how the defenses she has put up are getting in the way of things she really wants. Although the characters do have their prickly sides, each one is also lovely. And there is much to learn about the art of breeding roses!

[readingwithtea · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"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.

[sonjayoerg · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Margaret Dilloway made a rod for her own back in creating a character as difficult as Gal. Yet, a couple chapters in I began to appreciate her and, eventually, pull for her. Nothing short of a miracle because this woman is a porcupine.

And that's the beauty of this book. Every character and every situation felt immediate and real. I never doubted anything I read, and I'm a skeptical reader. From the art of rose breeding to the trials of dialysis to the care and feeding of a truculent teenager--all of it delivered in a confident, direct voice that carried the story beautifully.

Dilloway's an accomplished storyteller with insight and compassion. I'm putting her other books on my list.

[khiemstra631 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I found it difficult to put this book down once I began it. Galilee Garner is a biology teacher at a small Catholic high school in southern California. She is in her late thirties, single, and waiting for her third kidney for a transplant. She goes to overnight dialysis every other night. Her passion is breeding roses, and there is some useful information about caring for roses in the book. Meanwhile, her sister sends her teenage daughter to live with Gal without bothering to ask for Gal's opinion on the matter. Becky, the sister, has had drug and alcohol problems in the past, and her daughter, Riley, has basically raised herself. Gal is intent on breeding a prize-winning rose. What makes the book interesting is Gal's personality. She's an "old person" who is in reality barely middle-aged. Like many people, she has very strong opinions on how the world should work, and she thinks she is always right. When things do not go quite as she thinks they ought, her world crumbles a bit. Written as a first-person narrative, this is a great sophomore effort by author Margaret Dilloway.

[amandacb_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading "The Care and Handling of Roses With Thorns," mainly because I felt the author, Margaret Dilloway, did a commendable job creating well-rounded characters in Gal and Riley. I believed them and in them, and that made me interested in finishing the novel. It was a well-paced novel with a satisfactory ending.

[aya8herron · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Galilee "Gal" Garner lives for her roses. As an amateur rose breeder, Gal's world revolves around her precious hulthemias. The challenge of breeding the perfect rose consumes her every waking hour when she is not teaching or undergoing dialysis for a chronic kidney disorder. Gal's world is quite predictable, which she finds comforting. Then one day Gal is called out of class to discover that her 15 year old niece Riley has arrived unexpectedly. With nowhere else to go, it's soon settled that Riley will temporarily stay with Gal.Although Gal teaches high school, she is completely unprepared for the challenges of raising a teenager she hardly knows. Gal is unaccustomed to the demands of parenting and soon finds herself in over her head as she juggles her teaching career, her health issues, and her new role as a guardian to a teen all while aiming to create a rose that will be the envy of the rose society. While Gal is as thorny as her roses and difficult to get to know, her journey changes her from an inflexible spinster into a nurturing caregiver. Along the way, Gal is given the opportunity to start actually living her life instead of living through her roses.The Bottom Line: This is a beautiful tale told in the first person; it celebrates love, forgiveness, and the bonds of family. Although it is a bit predictable, it was a joy watching Gal's character blossom. This is a fast read, making it perfect for the weekend. Once you pick this one up, you won't be able to put it down. Enthusiastically recommended for those who enjoy contemporary fiction about family dynamics. This will also appeal to those interested in roses and gardening. Additionally, "The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns" would also be a great pick for a book club.

[darcyo_12 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Taciturn, prickly high school biology teacher Galilee "Gal" Garner is determined to discover a new rose variety that will win queen of show in a major competition. Though she has kidney disease and must have dialysis every few days, Gal manages to teach and garden with the help of one of her students, Brad, who helps with the roses, and Dara, the school's art teacher and Gal's friend.Gal's world is altered when her teenage niece, Riley, arrives unannounced. Seems Gal's estranged sister, Becky, had to go to Hong Kong for her job and Gal's parents are out of town, so Becky sends Riley to stay with Gal. The new relationship between aunt and niece benefits both Gal and Riley. "The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns" is beautifully written with well-drawn, quirky characters. I highly recommend reading it.