The Peach Keeper- Sarah Addison Allen

Pages:  320

Published: 2011 by Hodder and Stoughton

Genre: Magical Realism/ Contemporary

Format: Paperback

Acquired:  Own Copy

Date Finished: June 25^th 2012

Synopsis:

The New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Chased the Moon welcomes you to her newest locale: Walls of Water, North Carolina, where the secrets are thicker than the fog from the town’s famous waterfalls, and the stuff of superstition is just as real as you want it to be.

Resonant with insight into the deep and lasting power of friendship, love, and tradition, The Peach Keeper is a portrait of the unshakable bonds that—in good times and bad, from one generation to the next—endure forever.

Thoughts:

I love me a good Sarah Addison Allen book. She is one my favorite authors and her novels never cease to warm my heart and make me smile in times when I need them. The Peach Keeper is certainly no exception. When June came around in the book club and we got a change to read it I was so excited, despite having to move and getting ill. When I finished the book, I wanted to go back and crawl inside its pages because that is what it made me feel; magical.

One of the winning parts of this book was the friendships that were formed over time and those that remain over time. I wanted to cry reading about the older ladies decades old friendships and how that interwove into the present for the two main female characters, which were so unlike each other but who complimented each other right from the get go even if they didn’t know it. There is something so beautiful about watching a friendship blossom, even more than the romance and Sarah does it so well I was reminded of how important it is to be true to yourself and your friends and to love and be there for one another through thick and thin.

The mystery revolving around the secrets of the past and present was amazing. Often I continued reading because I wanted to know so badly and I felt everything Willa and Paxton felt as they tried to protect themselves and their families from the past. I loved how it brought so many people together and really divided the characters from ‘the scenery’.

Tucker brought a thick fog of darkness to the novel that complimented all the magic between each page. His history throughout the ages, from old passed down stories to his lingering ghost brought an element of richness to the story that I experiences through the senses. The peach scent that lingered, the fluttering of birds in the sky creating rainbows of colors, the old creaking tree and the jingling off the bell it was captivating.

I don’t really want to tell you anymore since I think it would spoil the story, but it is definitely a book to buy and add to your collection. It is a perfect autumn or winter read even though I believe it is set in the summer and I loved curling up in bed while I was ill and escaping to the beautiful worlds Sarah creates.

I must admit that in some parts I felt the usual spark Sarah emits in me die down. However while this was not one of her stronger novels, it certainly was a fantastic read and I would recommend it to fans of Sarah and to those who love magical realism.

If you haven’t already, check out her other works; The Sugar Queen and Garden Spells [those are the two I have read. I cannot wait to check out The Girl who chased the moon

 

I am giving this:

4 plump peaches

★★★★