The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

Review by Susan R. (Sue-in-AZ)

Synopsis

This story focuses on two young women (Willa and Paxton) in a very small town in North Carolina.  Willa and Paxton have known each other all their lives, but up until now have avoided each other.  Their two families share a deep past that goes back for generations. The symbol of their shared past is an abandoned, haunted house.

Once owned by Willa’s family, the house has now been bought by Paxton. Paxton plans to restore the house to its former glory and re-open it as a country inn.  But as the renovations proceed, a grisly discovery is when a body is unearthed from an unmarked grave.  The police get involved to solve what appears to be a decade’s old murder – and all the evidence points right back to Willa and Paxton’s grandmothers.  Willa and Paxton form an uneasy alliance to determine what really happened all those years ago and the story that emerges is full of intrigue and magic (all of Sarah Addison Allen’s stories have at least a little magic going on).

All of the mystery surrounding the house and the old murder are merely backdrop to the two ladies’ personal  lives.  Both Willa and Paxton have resigned themselves to living out their lives alone, in the shadow of their parents.  Paxton is living in her parent’s pool house and even though she is an adult, she’s living the life of a 17 year old, reporting all her coming and going to an over-controlling mother.  Willa is living in the small house her dead father left for her.  Both women feel trapped by expectations from their parents and neither feels free to leave town (or even their parents homes) to pursue their own dreams.

Love comes unexpectedly to both women – in both cases the man of their dreams was someone they knew all along.

My Review

For a Sarah Addison Allen story, I expected more magic.  That’s the only negative I have for this story.  It’s delightful!  As an adult daughter, I can sympathize with the struggle between my family and my personal life, so I found the plight of both women to be believable.

I loved the intermixing of the mystery with the on-going saga of Willa and Paxton’s personal dramas.  By the end of the story, I had fallen in love with the characters and the town.  I hope the author writes another story set in the same town.  She did have a cameo appearance from a character from an earlier book (I won’t describe here – I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise for other Sarah Addison Allen fans!).

Tags: Book Recommendations, Book Reviews, Book Suggestions

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