Spells of the Garden Variety

If you have been reading my blog lately, you must know that I've been re-reading my favorites. I've been re-visiting my "friends" in Mitford. But when I saw this book at the library, I just had to bring it home and read it.

Here's the blurb:

In a garden surrounded by a tall fence, tucked away behind a small, quiet house in an even smaller town, is an apple tree that is rumored to bear a very special sort of fruit. In this luminous debut novel, Sarah Addison Allen tells the story of that enchanted tree, and the extraordinary people who tend it.…

The Waverleys have always been a curious family, endowed with peculiar gifts that make them outsiders even in their hometown of Bascom, North Carolina. Even their garden has a reputation, famous for its feisty apple tree that bears prophetic fruit, and its edible flowers, imbued with special powers. Generations of Waverleys tended this garden. Their history was in the soil. But so were their futures.

A successful caterer, Claire Waverley prepares dishes made with her mystical plants—from the nasturtiums that aid in keeping secrets and the pansies that make children thoughtful, to the snapdragons intended to discourage the attentions of her amorous neighbor. Meanwhile, her elderly cousin, Evanelle, is known for distributing unexpected gifts whose uses become uncannily clear. They are the last of the Waverleys—except for Claire’s rebellious sister, Sydney, who fled Bascom the moment she could, abandoning Claire, as their own mother had years before.

When Sydney suddenly returns home with a young daughter of her own, Claire’s quiet life is turned upside down—along with the protective boundary she has so carefully constructed around her heart. Together again in the house they grew up in, Sydney takes stock of all she left behind, as Claire struggles to heal the wounds of the past. And soon the sisters realize they must deal with their common legacy—if they are ever to feel at home in Bascom—or with each other.

Enchanting and heartfelt, this captivating novel is sure to cast a spell with a style all its own…

I'm so glad that I did. I really enjoyed reading this book. Like all good books it grabbed my attention at the first page and didn't let go until it was all done.

This book is about relationships, between sisters, friends, husbands and wives. It's also about rediscovering yourself and being able to accept the change. The book also has a mystical element to it, but it's not over done, which was a bonus. It also deals with a serious matter, the author makes it so real and scary that you cannot but feel for the mother and daughter and hope that they are safe in Bascom.

I'll be looking for more of this author.

Garden of Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (4.5/5) General Fiction; Published: Bantam (08/07); 100 + Reading Challenge (8); Library book