Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

"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."

It always amazes me when I discover a new to me author and get enthralled in a story to learn that he or she is so young.  There are times I am reading a story and you get the feeling of a very old soul. One who knows, whose lived a dozen lifetimes.  One whose been around a while, been writing forever.   The ladies on the Well Trained Mind group have been talking up a storm about Sarah Addison Allen's novels so decided I must read one.  Garden Spells is an incredibly charming story with an endearing cast of characters blending magical realism and romance with small town politics and secrets.  I thoroughly enjoyed Garden Spells and look forward to reading more of Sarah Addison Allen.

ISBN-13: 9780553384833
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Pages: 320
Excerpt

Family Life: Crazy Weather

Wild and Wet Weather

We are in between storms at the moment and all is calm and quiet.

Thursday night, Father and I just happened to watch the news. Something we rarely do these days. The newscaster was talking about gearing up for an emergency and have your flashlights and supplies ready. We look at each other - what? Seems a huge storm was moving in and the word was to batten down the hatches. The forecast called for rain, rain and more rain, plus wind gusts up to 80 mph in some areas. The winds woke me up in the wee hours of Friday morning. It sounded like a freight train outside our window with things on the patio rattling around.

Both James and I were up around 6:30 no longer able to sleep. The rain came in sheets and whipped against the front door, the birch tree kept creaking as it swayed and I watched my neighbors huge pine tree branches bending with the wind. We lost power for all of an hour. We were the fortunate ones - other neighborhoods lost power for several hours.

We didn't have any damage except two huge bags of plant fertilizer exploded on our patio and we have bits of bag and fertilizer all over the patio.

When James and I went to to the grocery store today, we saw many tree branches and fences down. One huge tree lay on it side with a chunk of ground about 7 feet wide around it. Fortunately it had fallen away from the house, but into the power lines. I wish I had my camera with me. James just had to tell everybody in the store that he saw a tree that had fallen over and it was bigger than Godzilla!

The grocery store was packed. According to our bag boy, the power had been knocked out in that area for several hours and they were the only grocery store who had generators for power. The rest of the stores were in the midst of replacing all their spoiled foods.

We are staying safe and dry and cozy in our house for the rest of the weekend.