Book Rec of the Day 1/15/2007

All aboard! Widow Tessie and daughter, Dinah, need to jumpstart their lives, so they board the Orange Blossom Special, a train bound for Gainesville, Florida. Carter chronicles their lives across the decades, from the 1950s to the 1980s, in a first novel that critics found “warm [and] wise” (Elle), “insightful and compassionate” (Harper’s Bazaar), and “high-energy” (O, The Oprah Magazine). If you’re in the market for a feel-good read, you’ve found it.

THE ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL, by Betsy Carter (Algonquin, 2005)