MurderByDeath
Written on Jan 1, 2018
Welcome to Walls of Water, North Carolina, where secrets are thicker than the town's famous fog. Willa Jackson wants nothing more than a life beyond her family's legacy. The Jacksons met with financial ruin generations ago, and the Blue Ridge Madam - built by Willa's great-great-grandfather, and once the town's grandest home - has stood empty for years. However socialite do-gooder Paxton Osgood has intentions for the house. She wants to restore it to its former glory, and begins a bold renovation project. But when a skeleton is found buried beneath the property's lone peach tree, the town's troubled past is suddenly brought to the surface once more. The two women must form an unlikely friendship to confront the dangerous passions and tragic betrayals that once bound their families ...
- ISBN13 9781444706659
- Publish Date 13 October 2011 (first published 1 January 2011)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Hodder & Stoughton
- Imprint Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 272
- Language English
Reviews
Joséphine
Written on Jun 20, 2016
The Peach Keeper was predictable, containing the expected Southern "unsolved" murder twist and "doomed" romance that eventually works out anyway. The characters weren't particularly memorable and the events mostly plodded along with little excitement. One point of contention I did have was the flippant representation of a gay character. He ended up with his best friend of a woman because he wasn't actually gay. There was a lot of fallback on their high school years too, even though at 30-ish years old, they could've had more recent memories that bound their relationships.
It also took a lot of time to get used to the narrator. At first she sounded like she was constantly out of breath. That made me feel rather out of sorts but I ploughed on because I was looking for an audiobook to accompany me on errands.
Leah
Written on Dec 14, 2011
The Peach Keeper is a novel about the Osgood family and the Jackson family, two families who long ago in the past were intwined, whose histories connected. However, in the present day the two families are no longer connected and haven’t been for years. Now, Willa Jackson and Paxton Osgood do their level best to not come into contact with each other. Willa spends her days in the store she owns, whereas Paxton is busy planning a gala for the 75th Anniversary Women’s Society Club and plans to host it at the newly refurbished Blue Ridge Madam, and she wants Willa to come. Willa doesn’t want to, but when a long-buried secret is unveiled and the two women find themselves forging an unlikely friendship, they both begin to wonder just why they’d never bothered to be in contact with each other before…
I just loved The Peach Keeper and if I could end my review on that note, I’d be happy to. After being wowed by The Girl Who Chased The Moon earlier this year I wasn’t entirely sure Allen could pull it off again, wasn’t sure she’d be able to hook me the same way she did the first time around, but now I wonder why I was worried? The three days it took me to read this book were like being on the best rollercoaster ride ever. It had everything I wanted from the book and yet again Allen has knocked my socks off. I liked the energy of the novel, I was fascinated by the characters, I thought the romance was edge-of-your-seat stuff; I knew who I wanted Willa and Paxton to be with and I delighted in the sparks created and the whole thing just made me smile. The novel does have a bit of a serious edge – with the secret that’s uncovered but that just provides yet another branch to the tree, just another delight to read about, even if it isn’t exactly a happy branch.
It’s such a charming read and Allen is such a charming author. I raced through the book, I was desperate – so, so desperate – to see how these characters lives would pan out, I was rooting desperately for Willa and Paxton and I totally fell for Colin and Sebastian. The budding friendship between Willia and Paxton was delightful; the way Willa’s assitant at her store, Rachel, was a coffeeologist was brilliant; but the writing – oh, the writing! – was simply delightful. Sarah Addison Allen is a magician with words. She manages to make it all sound just so good. So charming, so warm, so heartfelt. In a time where I find novels to be more predictable by the day, Sarah Addison Allen with The Peach Keeper and with The Girl Who Chased The Moon has given me two utterly charming, but two utterly different to each other and anything else novels. Both are of a high standard and I was so enamoured with The Peach Keeper, so enamoured I read it as quickly as I could. The setting, the writing, the characters, the old superstitions of Willa’s grandmother, Georgie, the forthrightness of Paxton’s grandmother, Agatha, and then, of course, there’s the Sarah Addison Allen magic she puts into every novel, it’s just one big delight. You have to read it to believe it and kudos for Sarah Addison Allen for hooking me again and providing me with yet another book to call a favourite.
ladygrey
Written on Nov 1, 2011
This one, admittedly, had less of a sense of the magical to it. Or perhaps that sense was just more intangible. I missed the feeling that emotions have substance to them and the energies between people or between people and the world have manifestations. I wanted more with Rachel and her coffee and I liked the role that scent played, I just wanted a little more magic overall.
But the characters were really fun and engaging - Allen's characters always are. I liked watching them evolve and have these revelations about themselves and each other and the way they related to one another. I liked the story and the way it unfolded, the sense of mystery and how they changed the character's world.
You just can't go wrong when reading [a:Sarah Addison Allen|566874|Sarah Addison Allen|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1372537232p2/566874.jpg].
kimbacaffeinate
Written on Jun 2, 2011