Review of the Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

The Peach Keeper

Sarah Addison Allen

Bantam Books Publish Date March 22, 2011

ISBN 978-0-553-80722-6

288 pages

The renovation of an Iconic home in Walls of Water North Carolina reveals more than flaking paint and sagging porches, there’s secrets buried deep both on the grounds and in the hearts of two lifetime residents. When a body is discovered it forms a bond between Willa Jackson and Paxton Osgood as they try to learn the cryptic and sometimes mystic reasons why. They also embark on a journey of self discovery that leads them to an uncertain, fulfilling and sometimes scary future.

Sarah Addison Allen has this remarkable childlike imagination that features whimsy and magic right along side of realism. She gives us a plot that could be any small town USA or we could have parted the mist and revealed Brigadoon. It has mystery, it has romance, it has drama, you’ll laugh and you’ll cry and run the gamut of emotions. She will deliver this tale with her classic fanciful, descriptive and prose like narrative that fit her characters and scenes to a tee. Her characters will all stand out from her stars Willa and Paxton down to the bit part you only meet once, they are all over the top while being very realistic, someone from a fairy tale and yet a neighbor next door. Her main protagonists Willa and Paxton are two very different people on the outside and yet are both yearning without knowing how to fill that void on the inside. Her co-stars of Colin and Sebastian are excellent choices for these women and stand out among the other characters as well. There are romances in this novel as well as mystery, drama and a little bit of fairy dust, and the romances are very well told and will give her readers a fuzzy warm feeling when the read is over. The love scenes are well disguised with adult only innuendos so that no one reading this would have an occasion to blush or feel uncomfortable with the scenes.

If you’re a fan of Ms. Allen then you will absolutely love this book because it has her unique style that you'll recognize as unmistakably hers. If you’ve never had the pleasure of reading her, now is a great opportunity to do just that, believe me you won’t be sorry that you did.
Ms Allen kudos to you for another unforgettable tale!