The Peach Keeper

The Peach Keeper
by Sarah Addison Allen
Rating: ★★★★½
isbn: 9780553807226
Publication Date: March 22, 2011
Pages: 273
Genre: Magical Realism
Publisher: Bantam Books

Welcome to Walls of Water, North Carolina, a place where secrets run thicker than the town's famous fog.

Once upon a time, Willa Jackson's family owned the beautiful house on the top of the ridge. Now it symbolises her family's ruin and a legacy Willa longs to escape from.

Paxton Osgood also yearns to break free, especially from her parents' expectations, and the heartbreak of unrequited love. Desperate for a distraction, she decides to restore the empty mansion to its former glory.

But the discovery of a long-buried secret, a friendship that defies time, and a touch of magic, will transform both women's lives in ways they would never have expected.

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.