Flannery O'Connor and Betty Hester became acquainted after Hester wrote O'Connor in the summer of 1955. O'Connor was pleased with Hester's interpretation of her writing, and a friendship blossomed through correspondence.
Hester became known as the individual referred to as "A" in The Habit of Being (1979), by Sally Fitzgerald. For anonymity, the letter "A" was substituted for her name.
From 1979 to 1998, the identity of "A" was shrouded in mystery for O'Connor scholars, until after a long battle with depression, Hester died by suicide, and only then was her identity released to the public.
Betty Hester made frequent trips to visit O'Connor at Andalusia. The two shared many things in common, including their love for reading and writing. Hester, a fellow Roman Catholic, wrote book reviews for the Catholic magazine, The Bulletin, as did O'Connor. Although Hester wrote fiction, she never published her stories, but she shared her writing with O'Connor.
Hester and O'Connor remained friends and corresponded until O'Connor's death in 1964. It is through the correspondence with Hester published in The Habit of Being that scholars gain a clearer view of O'Connor's thoughts on writing and greater insight into her Catholic beliefs.