Garden Spells -Sarah Addison Allen
A Magical Novel Set in a Small North Carolina Town
Author Sarah Addison Allen casts a spell over readers with Garden Spells, a contemporary romance and fiction novel.
In the novel Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen, the Waverleys are known by the other locals in their small town as an odd bunch, complete with a garden of flowers and herbs that blooms year round and are known to have magical powers. Each one has their own gift, some of who embrace it and some try to run from it.
Thirty-four year old protagonist Claire Waverley is an outsider in her small hometown. She keeps to herself; her mother ran away when she was very young and her sister Sydney followed in her footsteps and left for New York City. Claire stayed behind and as a result was left with a deep fear of being left by those she loves, and refuses to get close to anyone. She runs her own catering business, preparing dishes with the mystical plants she grows -- rose petals to encourage love and snapdragons to discourage the advances of her next door neighbor Tyler, who clearly shows a fondness for her. Her distant cousin Evanelle Waverley is an odd old woman who brings people things they don't yet know that they need. When she brings Claire two sets of new bed linens and a box of strawberry Pop Tarts, Claire sets them aside and doesn't give them another thought until her estranged sister Sydney shows up.
Sydney returns with her six year old daughter Bay and finds that not much has changed in the small town she ran away from. The Waverleys are still known as eccentrics, and while she tries her best to fit in, she runs into the same opposition she faced as a teenager. Claire begins to open up to her for the first time, and she and Sydney learn secrets about each other that they had been hiding from each other as well as from others. Sydney is running from her past and her boyfriend, Bay's father, who was abusing her.
Garden Spells is an enchanting novel filled with love and magic. The myth and magic of the novel pulls the reader in, and the writing is clean and lyrical. Even readers who might not usually read fantasy fiction will enjoy this quick read. Readers will wish that there were more than 304 pages to the immensely enjoyable novel, and the story will stay with them long after.
About the Author
Sarah Addison Allen lives in Asheville, NC, where she is at work on her next novel. Learn more about her at her website.
Allen, Sarah Addison
Garden Spells
New York, Random House, August 28, 2007
