The Peach Keeper...#BookReview

About the book:
The New York Times bestselling author of
The Girl Who Chased the Moon welcomes you to her newest locale: Walls of Water, North Carolina, where the secrets are thicker than the fog from the town’s famous waterfalls, and the stuff of superstition is just as real as you want it to be.

It’s the dubious distinction of thirty-year-old Willa Jackson to hail from a fine old Southern family of means that met with financial ruin generations ago. The Blue Ridge Madam—built by Willa’s great-great-grandfather during Walls of Water’s heyday, and once the town’s grandest home—has stood for years as a lonely monument to misfortune and scandal. And Willa herself has long strived to build a life beyond the brooding Jackson family shadow. No easy task in a town shaped by years of tradition and the well-marked boundaries of the haves and have-nots.

But Willa has lately learned that an old classmate—socialite do-gooder Paxton Osgood—of the very prominent Osgood family, has restored the Blue Ridge Madam to her former glory, with plans to open a top-flight inn. Maybe, at last, the troubled past can be laid to rest while something new and wonderful rises from its ashes. But what rises instead is a skeleton, found buried beneath the property’s lone peach tree, and certain to drag up dire consequences along with it.

For the bones—those of charismatic traveling salesman Tucker Devlin, who worked his dark charms on Walls of Water seventy-five years ago—are not all that lay hidden out of sight and mind. Long-kept secrets surrounding the troubling remains have also come to light, seemingly heralded by a spate of sudden strange occurrences throughout the town.

Now, thrust together in an unlikely friendship, united by a full-blooded mystery, Willa and Paxton must confront the dangerous passions and tragic betrayals that once bound their families—and uncover truths of the long-dead that have transcended time and defied the grave to touch the hearts and souls of the living.

Resonant with insight into the deep and lasting power of friendship, love, and tradition,
The Peach Keeper is a portrait of the unshakable bonds that—in good times and bad, from one generation to the next—endure forever.

Even though Willa returns to Walls of Water, North Carolina after her father's death, she is able to keep her distance from those people in her past.  That is, until she receives an invitation to a gala celebrating the restoration of the Jackson family home and the Women's Society Club organized by her grandmother 75 years previously.  Suddenly she is thrust back into her past and an alliance with Paxton Osgood, a former classmate.

Our connection to our history fascinates me and Sarah Addison Allen is able to write across the generations, linking past and present so well together.  As Willa and Paxton work together to uncover the truth about the skeleton and their grandmothers' connection to it, they also discover that the bonds of friendship transcend time and age.  Not only their grandmothers' friendship, but their own.

Sebastian and Colin are perfect complements to Paxton and Willa and I cheered when Paxton finally discovered her backbone and made decisions for herself.

I have loved every Sarah Addison Allen book I've read, but I think that The Peach Keeper is my favorite.  Her books are enchanting and captivating.  Her characters are likeable and there is always a mysterious, magical element.  My favorite part of the book?  When Sebastian tells Paxton, "Every life needs a little space.  It leaves room for good things to enter it."  I think that's worthy of being placed on the wall of your family home!

Thanks to Lisa at TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to review this book.  You can learn more about Sarah Addison Allen here.  You can purchase your own copy here.  You can see more reviews and tour stops here.

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
Friday, April 29th:  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

Read 5/11

* * * *
4/5 Stars

Comments

  1. I'm glad you liked this one so much. I've seen some mixed reviews so I've been nervous about reading it. I've loved SAA's books.

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  2. Oh, I really enjoyed this one, too! Allen is an immensely talented author and her books -- always with that touch of magic -- captivate me. The Peach Keeper is now second only to The Sugar Queen as my favorite of her works. :)

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  3. I have this book sitting here on my table waiting for me to read. I am glad to hear you enjoyed it. Hopefully I will get to it soon. I love the quote you posted from the book. I too think that would make a great saying to post in a home.

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  4. I just loved this book as well! Like you I've loved all of Addison's books. She's has such a beautiful writing style. You said it perfectly when you said enchanting and captivating. I love that quote as well!

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