The Peach Keeper, by Sarah Addison Allen

There aren't many things in life that can matter more than friendship. It will stand the test of time, old age and silly little arguments, no matter what.

Sarah Addison Allen has once again brought a startlingly sad and sweet tale that combines people, love, and relationships with just a hint of magic that borders on the realm of coincidence. The Peach Keeper is a surprise, bursting with richness set in a curiously eclectic Southern town in North Carolina called Walls of Water that boasts tourist traffic for its famous waterfalls, along with the mystical morning fog that tends to slightly disorient visitors. The famous fog from Walls of Water is also sold in jars. Tourists love that.

Willa runs an outdoor store in her regimented, even boring, life. After all, Friday night happens to be vacuuming night. Quite a difference from her years in high school many moons ago as the known prankster. And Paxton, a high society princess has much more heart underneath all of the precision and planning she so religiously undertakes in every aspect of her life. Working on bringing back the dilapidated manor that once roared with life seventy five years ago so that she can hold a gala, she is consumed with order and makes lists as a hobby. In order to clear out the weeds and to allow for the landscaping to begin, an aging tree out front is removed, which unearths a most unique discovery that brings the past into the present, and ties Willa and Paxton together into an unexpected friendship.

There's no other way to say it except that Sarah Addison Allen has never let me down. She's my comfort read, the type of author who paints a magical world somehow stuck in the midst of reality. I am drawn to her work because it completely removes me from the day-to-day stresses and makes me think for just one blissful moment that perhaps there really is just a little bit of magic still left in the world. I was hooked on when I first read Garden Spells. Then The Sugar Queen, and now, The Peach Keeper. Color me giddy with glee when I realized that there is apparently a book that came out after The Sugar Queen that I didn't know about and I can pick up! 

Her mixture of magical realism, friendships, and food, leap out of the pages with its lyrical dance of description so effectively, I can feel each moment, sense the oddness in the scene with what could very well be just coincidence, and taste the sugary sweetness of the food that is fleetingly described.

This is yet another remarkable story from Sarah Addison Allen of friendships, love, and a reminder to never let a chance of true happiness ever slip you by. And as I mentioned the other day, Sarah Addison Allen is the "sucks-you-in-and-keeps-you-reading-until-your-vision-blurs" type of storyteller. I eagerly await anything she writes. Absolutely anything.

Go. Get. This. Book. Now.

If you enjoyed Liz Michalski's Evenfall and of course, Alice Hoffman, then you should pick up The Peach Keeper right away. Oh, and The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff, too. All equally magical, heartwarming, and delectable.

About the Author (Just a Few Things About Sarah from her website)

1. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a trash man. I would spend hours daydreaming about riding on the back of a garbage truck, jumping off at every house and dumping people’s trash into it.
2. I was born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina, a place Rolling Stone magazine once called "America’s New Freak Capital."
3. I have my B.A. in Literature, a major I chose because I thought it was amazing that I could get a diploma just for reading fiction. It was like being able to major in eating chocolate.
4. I can’t turn away stray cats and I’m convinced they know this.
5. My father was a copy editor, reporter and award-winning columnist for our local paper.
6. My mother has a nose ring, but we pretend it’s not there.
7. Garden Spells, my mainstream debut, didn’t start out as a magical novel. It was supposed to be a simple story about two sisters reconnecting after many years. But then the apple tree started throwing apples and the story took on a life of its own...and my life hasn’t been the same since

Visit the author on her website by clicking here.

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Many thanks to Lisa at TLC Book Tours for giving me the opportunity to read this book, and apologies for noting down the wrong date to post. Upcoming tour stops are listed below - if you haven't visited the blogs below, now is the time!

Wednesday, April 13th:  Knowing the Difference

Friday, April 15th:  Peeking Between the Pages

Monday, April 18th:  Bewitched Bookworms

Tuesday, April 19th:  Book Reviews by Molly

Wednesday, April 20th:  A Few More Pages

Thursday, April 21st:  Sara’s Organized Chaos

Friday, April 22nd:  Life in Review

Monday, April 25th:  The Broke and the Bookish

Tuesday, April 26th:  Life in the Thumb

Wednesday, April 27th:  Crazy for Books

Thursday, April 28th: A Fair Substitute for Heaven

Monday, May 2nd:  Fizzy Thoughts

Tuesday, May 3rd:  Coffee and a Book Chick

Wednesday, May 4th:  Jenn’s Bookshelves

Thursday, May 5th:  Alison’s Book Marks

Friday, May 6th:  Bookfoolery and Babble

Monday, May 9th:  A Library of My Own

Tuesday, May 10th:  Teresa’s Reading Corner

Wednesday, May 11th:  Unabridged Chick

Monday, May 16th:  A Bookshelf Monstrosity

Wednesday, May 18th:  Two Kids and Tired

Friday, May 20th:  In the Next Room