When we first meet Tessie Lockhart in 1958, she is pinning her hair into a French twist, dabbing Jean Naté on her wrists, and getting ready to change her life. This widowed mother of a thirteen-year-old has decided it's time for a fresh start for both of them, time to leave behind Carbondale, Illinois, and the pain of loss. Tessie and her daughter move to Gainesville, Florida, where they discover that they aren't the only ones struggling to move forward in the wake of tremendous grief. Betsy Carter has perfectly captured both the innocence of the 1950s, when even the complex events of our lives seemed somehow easier to endure, and the startling and irreversible changes of the 1960s. A story about the relationships people develop in the face of loss, The Orange Blossom Special introduces us to a remarkable cast of characters, all of whom are tested-and transformed-by the changes in their midst. In her own touching and funny style, Carter shows us the unexpected ways in which strangers can become family. Betsy Carter is the author of Swim to Me and The Orange BlossomSpecial. Her memoir, Nothing to Fall Back On, was a national bestseller. She is a contributing editor for O: The Oprah Magazine and writes for Good Housekeeping, New York, and AARP, among others. Carter formerly served as an editor at Esquire, Newsweek, and Harper's Bazaar, and was the founding editor of New York Woman. She lives in New York City. There's no percentage in hopelessness....You lose hope and what have you got?...Think about it: You moved from Carbondale with a young girl because somewhere inside you thought things could be better. And you came here and you got a job and your daughter is happier and you've met me and tonight we ate Beef Stroganoff. Could you ever have imagined any of this would happen? If you only accept life's bad surprises and don't believe that there are good ones of equal weight waiting to happen, well, then I don't really see what the point of going on is. Do you? -from The Orange Blossom Special "A young widow and her daughter move to Florida in 1958, searching for warm weather and a new life....An endearing portrait of a place in time." -Kirkus Reviews

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