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 ...
I've thoroughly enjoyed all the Sarah Addison Allen books I've read, but I stayed away from this one for a long time because, frankly, I don't like peaches*.
As reasons go to not read a book, it's a pretty stupid one, so when I saw the title at a library sale for $1 I did the mature thing and bought it.
I LOVED this book! It was SO good. It had shades of Practical Magic in it, and a cameo by Claire Waverly from Garden Spells and a small but very important murder mystery. The only thing it needed to make it perfect was Claire's apple tree.
The Peach Keeper felt like Allen crossed from Magical Realism into straight magic; there aren't a lot of logical reasons (or any) for why the strange events in Walls of Water were happening. The character development felt a lot richer too; limiting the plot to only 4 people, and really focusing on the 2 female protagonists made it feel like a much tighter story. The romantic tension was intense (although the sex scenes were almost non-existent).
Is this Pride and Prejudice good? No, of course not (nothing is that good), but it is Practical Magic (the movie, not the book) good. If you liked that movie, or you enjoy good stories about the power of friendship, I think you'll enjoy this.
* It's a tactile thing; peach fuzz = fingernails on a chalkboard.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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1 January, 2018:
Finished reading
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1 January, 2018:
Reviewed