An introduction to Susan Betts, whose fiction frequently depicts blue-collar workers and middle-class people who demonstrate perseverance, cheerfulness, and a refusal to be victimized. The analysis is infused with biographical details and provides expert syntheses of Bettss stories and novels, including uncollected stories and works-in-progress. Highlights key people and events shaping the writers work: from the church-centered and patriotic Statesville, North Carolina, where Betts grew up in the aftermath of the Great Depression and during World War II, to her college contacts with writers such as Randall Jarrell, Robie Macauley, and Katherine Anne Porter.