Every smiley moon, without fail, Claire dreamed of her childhood. She always tried to stay awake those nights when the stars winked and the moon was just a cresting sliver smiling provocatively down at the world, the way pretty women on vintage billboards used to smile as they sold cigarettes and limeade.
The Waverly women of Bascom, North Carolina are special. Each of them is endowed with a quiet but special gift. Claire Waverly can affect people’s emotions through her cooking. Evanelle has a knack for giving people what they need, just before they need it. Five-year-old Bay knows exactly where things belong, including her own mother. Even the apple tree in the Waverly’s back yard has a power: Its fruit reveals selective visions of the future.
In Garden Spells, Sarah Addison Allen’s debut novel, each of the Waverly women must come to terms with her gift as well as the Waverly family name. After growing up with a mother who abandoned her and her sister, Claire must learn how to trust people again; she must especially learn how to trust her new neighbor, a man who seems determined to love her no matter how much she tries to ignore him. Claire’s sister Sydney, an expatriate who fled Bascom when she turned 18, decides to return to the sanctuary of her childhood home to protect her young daughter when the outside world grows too dangerous. Before she finds a peaceful future, Sydney must reconcile shadows from her past while discovering the nature of her own special power.
Author Sarah Addison Allen does a superb job at creating the cozy, comforting fantasy universe that the Waverly women inhabit. The world of the Waverlys is a highly appealing one, from Claire’s garden and kitchen to the apple tree that hurls fruit like a benign version of the trees in The Wizard of Oz.
If you’re in the mood for a gentle, uplifting tale of magic, one that entertains while reinforcing the healing power of family ties, you will love Garden Spells. Highly recommended!