Reviewer: Amy Lignor
Title: Garden Spells
Author: Sarah Addison Allen
Publisher: Bantam/Dell
ISBN: 978-0-553-80548-2
Release Date: August 2007
Genre/Sub-genre: Fiction
Year/Setting: Present Day, Bascom, NC
Overall Rating: 5.0
Sexual Content Rating: Subtle
Language (Profanity/Slang) Content Rating: None
Violent Content Rating: Minimal
Sarah's Website:
www.sarahaddisonallen.com
I’ve reviewed a great many books so far but I have NEVER come across one I enjoyed more. If there was a higher rating than 5, this book would receive it. The premise of this endearing novel surrounds a garden. In the garden is an apple tree that is rumored to grow a ‘special’ sort of fruit. From beginning to end, fruit to person, this book is all about peculiar gifts. The Waverley family has always been the fodder of gossips in their small town. Claire is a successful caterer, whose mystical plants and herbs grown in her garden make the food she serves much more than just wheat and flour on a plate. Evanelle, Claire’s elderly cousin, has the psychic gift of knowing when to ‘give’ someone something they’ll need. She has no idea what they’ll need it for – she just simply knows that she has to give it to that person. (Example: She gives a flashlight to someone two weeks before lightning strikes a tree and their power goes out.)
Sydney, Claire’s rebellious younger sister, fled the small town just like her mother did years before – searching for a way out from the "strange" family. Through circumstances that are extremely well-written, Sydney returns to the small town and tries to heal the wounds between her and her sister.
Enter a next door neighbor, an old ‘love’ from the past – his self-loathing wife and her arrogant mother – and the town’s people who you absolutely wish were real so that you could spend time with them every day of your life. There are so many unfolding stories and secrets in this book that I will not give too much away. But all the characters, even inanimate, like the old Queen Anne on Penland Street, are written to perfection.
I was hooked from the beginning with the descriptions of the lilac and rose-petal jelly that Claire makes, as well as her biscuits with honey butter that help people keep secrets. The garden of the Queen Anne house with the moon vine, angel’s trumpet and night jasmine is simply incredible. In fact, the author connects with her readers so well that I actually smelled the jasmine when I was reading. Evanelle’s lines are fantastic and I want her to star in her own book just so I can get more of her. Everything about this work is an A+. I want to extend my gratitude to the writer for creating such a truly wonderful and enjoyable book.
Amy
Question or comment regarding the review or the book? Click here and let Amy know.
Top
Reviews
Featured Reviews
Archived Reviews