Great Aunt Thirza is palmed off with a false diagnosis of 'anaemia' - rather than the leukaemia she does have. The symptoms are close enough to fool her. This Betty is bothered more than a wee bit with this dodgy bit of medical ethics. It certainly doesn't help matters that I too am generally anaemic and now will be wondering about what I'm not being told....When the chips are down, Katrina gets a job as a day laborer...picking strawberries is one of her jobs. Growing up in the Willamette Valley in the 1970's, it was the privilege/curse of many an 
underfunded teenager to work the fields for a pittance. String beans were the preferred crop - it was nice and shady between the rows - and if you were slacking off, it was difficult for the boss to see you. Strawberries were horrible. Absolutely horrible. Yes, they are much tastier raw than string beans, but there was no shade and no hiding, PLUS there was all that bending over. Sunburn and backache - I only lasted one summer with the strawberries. It's certainly a good thing Katrina and Simon made a go of it, because I'm not sure how long she could have made a go of the whole day laborer thing.
In most of La Neels earlier novels her tall Junoesque heroines can eat whatever they want without gaining an ounce. Evidently science caught up with Betty. Simon invites Katrina to go for a walk - his excuse is that "we big people tend to put on weight". Huh. We short people put on weight too...I guess it's time to go for a walk.
Part of Aunt Thi
rza's legacy is a delightful garden. One feature is the moss roses. I'm not quite sure what moss roses are, so I went to that fount of all wisdom, Wikipedia...and I'm still not sure. Evidently there is more than one kind of moss rose. 
You might be more familiar with moss roses here in the US by their other name: portulaca.
ReplyDeleteI am sometimes astounded in her books that adults aren't told about their health. Here in the US now of course there's HIPAA, but still- don't tell auntie she's dying?! Hello, there are many legal things she might need to do! People she might want to see one last time.
Okay, so The Great Betty was very (VERY) old school about telling patients stuff. I just ignore that. (But Betty Debbie -- it never EVER hurts to ask your doctor everything. They are not, and never will be, great communicators...)
ReplyDeleteI hate portulaca -- and no way is that what is meant in this book by "moss rose." It's a simple rose; here's a photo of one.
I knew a Thirzah once (her real name was Susan; Thirzah was her grandmother's name) -- it's pronounced Teer-za, but you may have known that. I'm a fan of ancient Hebrew names for girls... tee hee.