Always Gardenia

“In cheerful, lively prose that pays homage to the novels of Barbara Pym,  Always Gardenia skewers and celebrates middle-aged romance, English department intrigues, competitive mothering, brunch, and drum dancing. Betsy Hanson has a capacious heart:  Her characters maintain their dignity despite the degradations of living beyond the flush of youth, among friends who outdo them but are too kind to say so. Every hurt, tentative pleasure, and human foible sparkles with authorial precision. The laughable is also tender for being absolutely true.” — Kathleen Flenniken, 2012-2014 Washington State Poet Laureate