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Betty's (Little Basement) Garden

by Laurel Dewey (Goodreads Author)

3.97 of 5 stars 3.97 · rating details · 29 ratings · 13 reviews

Betty Craven is the epitome of elegance, class, and perfection. Her prize-winning garden is the envy of her neighbors; her impeccable manners and epicurean skills have made her the �hostess with the most-est.”

But all is not what it seems.

The truth is that this fifty-eight year old’s seemingly idyllic world is quickly disintegrating. Widowed and left with a modest income, B...more

Paperback, 450 pages

Published June 12th 2012 by Story Plant, The (first published April 3rd 2012)

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Nov 10, 2012 Katy rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everybody

Recommended to Katy by: NetGalley

Shelves: ebook, galley-for-review, net-galley

Book Info: Genre: Literary/Medical fiction
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Everyone

Disclosure: I received a free paperback from the author’s publicist, as well as being approved for an eGalley from NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: Betty Craven is the epitome of elegance, class, and perfection. Her prize-winning garden is the envy of her neighbors; her impeccable manners and epicurean skills have made her the "hostess with the most-est."

But all is not what it seems.

The...more

4 likes · like · see review

May 31, 2012 Leslie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: comic, book-reviews, educational, fiction, hope, paranormal, romance, self-help

Article first published as Book Review: Betty's (Little Basement) Garden by Laurel Dewey on Blogcritics.

Bud, Seed, Weed, dope, marijuana, or cannabis, no matter what you call it, there has become a raging argument about the merits of this drug and its abilities to help heal and its qualities of reducing the after effects of the drugs used for diseases such as cancer. Everyone has an opinion and even the law is divided on what is right. Medical marijuana is certainly becoming more of a mainstrea...more Article first published as Book Review: Betty's (Little Basement) Garden by Laurel Dewey on Blogcritics.

Bud, Seed, Weed, dope, marijuana, or cannabis, no matter what you call it, there has become a raging argument about the merits of this drug and its abilities to help heal and its qualities of reducing the after effects of the drugs used for diseases such as cancer. Everyone has an opinion and even the law is divided on what is right. Medical marijuana is certainly becoming more of a mainstream topic.

In Betty’s (little basement) Garden by Laurel Dewey, we are invited into the world of this drug sensation in a strange and slightly bizarre, yet idealistic way. Betty Craven is a 58 year old woman who is known for her ability to create perfection, whether it is her prize flowers, or her fabulous chocolates, she excels in what she chooses. Little do her friends understand the real life that Betty is living? Having her only child die in a horrible way, and then losing her husband, she finally finds herself free from a hell she could not seem to escape. As do many new widows, she tries to move forward but does not understand how. Buying into her own hype, she spends everything she has and more to build a business she can be proud of. When the economy falls on hard times she finds she is in way over her head. Yet in her pride she must keep up appearances. Even her closest friends do not realize the problems she is beginning to face. The lack of money is bad enough, but she is also beginning to see and experience things that make no sense. She is feeling so much guilt over her son’s death, she finds herself talking to him frequently.

Her son was always sensitive and artistic; he saw things as they were meant to be. Her husband was cruel to him because of what he thought were his pansy ways, and belittled him at every turn. Part of Betty’s pain stemmed from the feeling that she experienced of letting him down. She always thought she should stand up to her husband but she did not know how. She only knew how to be the perfect housewife, one who did not talk back or create waves. When she meets another young man who looks very much like her son before he died, her life changes in ways she could never imagine. This young man is the nemesis of everything she believes in and is part of the cannabis growing community. She is disturbed by his antics and decides she must be the one to help set him straight. She has no idea what changes her life will take as she begins to shake the mantel of respectability, and really begins to live again.

This is a wonderful novel full of characters we see every day. There is more to the work than the usual change of life and the growth of change. There is friendship and hope, new love and forgiveness. The pain of discovery and the brittle house of cards that often hide the real needs of those in danger begin to shift through a veil that begins as opaque and slowly changes hue to a clear and shining purpose.

Regardless of your belief system, there is a great deal of information about the growers of medical marijuana and the difficulties that creates, and it takes you into the back streets of the illegal growers with their need to break the rules that protect those that are in the business to help others. Both facets do not trust the other and yet their lives intersect in many ways. There is a form of reliance that must be cultivated to continue to produce the crops, and the knowledge of each form of plant.

I really enjoyed this work and found it hard to put down. The story behind the title is deep and abiding, full of feeling and depth. Betty is the quintessential woman coming from a family that could only relate to perfection, and she has a difficult time letting go.

This would be an excellent book for a reading group or a book club. There is life and laughter, love and friendships, and a spark of the paranormal that brings it all together. This is a change of the usual Dewey story but she does not disappoint. Her characters maintain their charisma and charm and draw you in. Take a chance and delve into this work, it is interesting and unique, full of a new and yet old fashioned type of charm.

This book was received free from the publicist. All opinions are my own based of my reading and understanding of the material.(less)

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May 28, 2012 Viviane Crystal rated it 4 of 5 stars

Betty is a very unhappy lady. Losing her son three years ago and her husband more recently, she's overwhelmed with grief and financial debt. Little by little, she is selling off parts of her home furniture and other items. But the picture she presents to her ultra-conservative, opinionated friends is one of strength, agreement, and perfection. Something is rotten in Denmark, indeed as a famous bard once wrote.

Her marriage was actually a disaster and her son died of an overdose of drugs, providin...more Betty is a very unhappy lady. Losing her son three years ago and her husband more recently, she's overwhelmed with grief and financial debt. Little by little, she is selling off parts of her home furniture and other items. But the picture she presents to her ultra-conservative, opinionated friends is one of strength, agreement, and perfection. Something is rotten in Denmark, indeed as a famous bard once wrote.

Her marriage was actually a disaster and her son died of an overdose of drugs, providing memories and nightmares that she attempts to evade by several strong, daily nightcaps! But Betty's world is about to turn upside down, all beginning with a friend's campaign to stop the selling of legal marijuana and the production of medicinal marijuana plants in the neighborhood. Betty can't stand the carping and rigid, stereotypical stuff she hears, especially since it nudges her memories of her son's initial start with drugs. However, never one to be the rebel, she reluctantly and incorrectly signs her name to a petition to stop the spread of marijuana in any legal shape, size, or form.

Soon however, after finally going to the doctor for some severe neck pain, she meets a man named Peyton who actually works at a local health food store and is licensed as a medical caregiver who gives patients marijuana or "herb" as he insists on calling it to patients who are sick or dying. When she sees the results on a dying woman in person, a part of her more truthful side has to admit there is a better way.

So begins this long tale of Betty's foray into dosing home-made chocolates with the "herb" and then beginning to produce her own plants, forms of this new "medication," and obtaining her own license as a medical caregiver. Some funny moments follow with a date her old friends talk her into taking and her reactions to both the date and them after the date, as well as little by little letting go of restricted and uptight exterior she's been living. Readers can decide how much is educational, how much is a bit much, and how much of this information is real. It certainly appears to be well-researched and one about which the general public knows little. The experiments in producing the products are sometimes funny, sometimes more anti-cause than even the author expects, but the end of the story, as well a a growing romance with another character is quite pleasing and unique. Interestingly done, Ms. Dewey!(less)

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Apr 22, 2012 Cheryl "Mash" rated it 4 of 5 stars

Betty's (Little Basement) Garden by Laurel Dewey
Published by The Story Plant
ISBN-10: 1611880386
ISBN-13: 978-1611880380
At the request of The Story Plant (Spread The Word Initiative, an ARC EBook edition was provided, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.

Synopsis (from publisher): Betty Craven is the epitome of elegance, class, and perfection. Her prize-winning garden is the envy of her neighbors; her impeccable manners and epicurean skills have made her the "hostess with the most-est."

But all...more

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Jun 16, 2012 Dani Moore rated it 5 of 5 stars

Betty Craven had the perfect life. Well, that's what it seemed like to others. They never knew that she was empty inside and her house was emptying slowly as she surreptitiously sold her antiques and paintings. Her Husband was dead, Although if she were honnest, maybe that was a small relief. Her son, Frankie was dead and that ripped her her out every hour of every day.
Betty hasn't created her perfect garden yet this year, her women's group meeting wasn't perfect enough to please her. Her neck w...more

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May 04, 2012 Lis Carey rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Betty Craven is in her late fifties, elegant, classy, a perfectionist, and a gardener with a prize-winning garden. She's the embodiment of Colorado respectability.

She's also a widow with a limited income, an unsaleable house in disrepair, a dead son whom she grieves far more than her late husband, and a steadily worsening pain in her neck. She invested the money from her husband in starting a gourmet chocolate shop--in 2009. It did not survive, and all she has left is her chocolate-making equipm...more Betty Craven is in her late fifties, elegant, classy, a perfectionist, and a gardener with a prize-winning garden. She's the embodiment of Colorado respectability.

She's also a widow with a limited income, an unsaleable house in disrepair, a dead son whom she grieves far more than her late husband, and a steadily worsening pain in her neck. She invested the money from her husband in starting a gourmet chocolate shop--in 2009. It did not survive, and all she has left is her chocolate-making equipment. And because she is driven to maintain the image of perfection and respectability, she doesn't even have anyone to confide in. Betty is even quietly selling off the antiques and artwork she and her husband collected over the course of their marriage, just to pay the bills and do the most basic of repairs to the house.

All of that sounds pretty grim, I know. But that's just the background, and this is a fun book.
One of Betty's oldest and dearest friends is dying of cancer, and Betty brings her a box of chocolates. She meets Peggy's nephew, a clearly disreputable young man who nevertheless loves his aunt. She leaves the chocolates with him. When he calls her to say that Peggy is dying and wants to see Betty once more, she comes--and Peggy is relaxed, comfortable, happy. It's a wonderful last visit.

A few days later, he tells Betty that that he melted down her chocolates and remade them with marijuana, and that's why Peggy was so comfortable in her last hours. Colorado has legalized medical marijuana, and he's a "caregiver," a licensed grower providing marijuana to up to five people. He leads Betty on her first steps in a direction she never imagined she would go.

Betty meets the owner of a health food store, and a man who knew her son during the last, lost year of his life, and finds out secrets about her friends that she never suspected. She finds out she was never meant to be conventional and respectable; there's a long-suppressed free spirit dwelling within her. When Betty starts a secret little garden in her basement, to match the very public one outside her home, she has barely begun her adventures, terrifying and funny and warm and wonderful.

Get to know Betty; you'll love her.

Recommended.

I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.(less)

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Jun 27, 2012 Ellen Parker rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Open minded people who want an original story that captures their heart

Recommended to Ellen by: Fan of the author

Another stellar novel from Laurel Dewey. This one is a standalone novel and very different from her popular Jane Perry mystery series. There's a bubbling under the surface of this book that keeps you turning the pages. I love how Dewey takes her time and builds Betty Craven's character throughout the first 100 pages or so. You're rooting for Betty the whole time, nudging her to wake up and smell the roses. Her transformation during the story is magical, humorous, tender, romantic and enlightenin...more

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Oct 11, 2012 Shannon L. Gonzalez rated it 5 of 5 stars

A true 3-dimensional character arc meets pot oops plot, October 10, 2012
By Shannon GonzalezThis review is from: Betty's (Little Basement) Garden (Paperback)
It is amazing how steadfast beliefs can become challenged and changed when circumstances present themselves. This little gem is rich in challenging misconceptions by taking a ride along an unexpected road. Funny and unpredictable, you'll be rooting for the unlikliest character by the end. It makes me want to help others by making her "gour...more

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Jul 06, 2012 Kerry rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love this author's other books, so I figured I'd give this one a try. I found it enjoyable and extremely informative. I consider myself somewhat knowledgeable about the history and use of cannabis, but definitely learned a lot of things I didn't know. Great characters - fun watching Betty's growth and the opening of her mind as the story progresses.

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May 28, 2012 Mysia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

An uplifting story of a middle-aged widow's awakening--with surprising twists and a hot-button topical edge!

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May 02, 2012 Matt Laduke rated it 5 of 5 stars

Very interesting book. Very educational. The book read more like a documentry than a fictional novel.

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Feb 03, 2013 Linda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Her best yet! Can't put it down. Very addictive.

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Jul 29, 2012 Gina Hott rated it 4 of 5 stars

Wow! Not at all what I expected but an absolutely fabulous book. Just WOW.

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May 17, 2013 Chip rated it 1 of 5 stars

May 02, 2013 Darlene is currently reading it · review of another edition

Shelves: libboo, free-from-author, free-for-review, kindle, kindle-books-i-own

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Shelves: romance, fiction-contemporary, women

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Apr 10, 2013 Kristi (Books and Needlepoint) marked it as to-read

Apr 11, 2013 Diane rated it 4 of 5 stars

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About Laurel Dewey

Laurel Dewey’s writing career has been anything but predictable. Born in Glendale, California, Dewey began her career working in public relations. Her writing talents quickly took her into other entertainment avenues. As an assistant editor at BOP Magazine in the late 1980's, Dewey helped launch the blockbuster career of teen pop groups, including The New Kids on The Block. During this time, she w...more Laurel Dewey’s writing career has been anything but predictable. Born in Glendale, California, Dewey began her career working in public relations. Her writing talents quickly took her into other entertainment avenues. As an assistant editor at BOP Magazine in the late 1980's, Dewey helped launch the blockbuster career of teen pop groups, including The New Kids on The Block. During this time, she wrote a string of successful mystery radio plays for Los Angeles public radio networks.

Not satisfied to write in only one genre, Dewey went on to pen a western novella “In the Name of the Land” which was nominated for a Silver Spur Fiction Award. A collection of short stories followed, as did a successful stint writing and producing radio ads and promos.

In the early 1990’s, Dewey relocated to rural Colorado. But her eclectic writing forte continued as she pursued work as a freelance investigative journalist, advertising/marketing promoter and newspaper columnist. In the mid and late 1990’s, two of her books on plant medicine were published, along with 10 booklets and hundreds of articles on alternative health. During this time, she appeared as a featured guest on hundreds of national radio and television programs and lectured extensively across the United States and Canada.

But then the pages turned...literally. In 2007, Dewey released her first fiction novel, PROTECTOR, a gritty, mystical crime thriller that follows the rocky life of damaged Denver homicide detective Jane Perry. In preparation for writing the book, Dewey immersed herself in detailed research, interviewing Colorado homicide detectives and traveling on "ride-a-longs" with street cops. The intricate research helped Dewey create a debut novel that is powerful, compelling, controversial and utterly original.

The sequel to PROTECTOR, REDEMPTION, was released in June of 2009. The third book, REVELATIONS, released in June, 2011. A series of short stories and novellas featuring Detective Jane Perry were published throughout 2011, starting with "An Unfinished Death" which is a prequel to PROTECTOR.

The fourth Jane Perry novel will be published in late 2012.

In keeping with Dewey's ability to push the envelope, she's written a standalone novel, "Betty's (Little Basement) Garden," that is set for release on June 12, 2012. This controversial book will certainly spark many conversations and hopefully enlighten readers at the same time.

Dewey lives with her husband and two orange cats in rural Colorado.(less)

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