Review: Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

Genre: Southern Fiction
Series: Waverley Family #1
Pages: 290
Copyright: 2008
Publisher: Bantam Discovery
Buy: Amazon

Review of the second book in the series: First Frost
Reviews of other books by Sarah Addison Allan: Sugar Queen, Lost, Lake, The Peach Keeper, and The Girl Who Chased the Moon

Summary:This is a well crafted story set in Bascom, North Carolina. The main character has a magic garden that she tends. The garden has a large fence around it because there is an apple tree that has fruit which will tell you the biggest event in your life. This has caused the owners of the tree, the Waverleys, to become outcasts of society. Claire is a caterer, and she makes her living from the flowers in her garden. The apples from the tree are not used in any cooking. Claire's sister Sydney and her young daughter Bay return to live with Claire. They are running from their past. Tyler is the new art teacher at the local college who has moved in next door to Claire. He is interested in her sexually, but Claire resists. On Sydney's return she meets Henry, an old friend from elementary school. The story is strongly influenced by food and the apple tree.

Feelings:
I really enjoyed reading Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen. It was a pleasant surprise to find a good Southern novel. The story is rooted in the South and Southern traditions. I really liked the characters. Claire and Tyler were an interesting pair as they were so different. Not only that but there was a tension between them that seemed to by heightened by the apple tree and by Claire, who seems to posses some magic of her own. Sydney is harder to follow as she doesn't have as many pleasant memories. As the book unfolds it was nice to watch Sydney and Claire develop a friendship built on being sisters. The relationship among the characters and their past friends makes the story move at a fast pass. Henry and Tyler are both interesting men. They are manly with a feminine side that reaches for romance which Claire rejects and Sydney doesn't believe she can have. I would recommend this book. I enjoyed the magic and tension the writing created.