Mommy Read: Sarah Addison Allen

I read through two of Sarah Addison Allen's books in early September: The Peach Keeper and The Girl Who Chased the Moon. I'll be perfectly honest, I picked them up because the covers are whimsical.

It is coming on the 50 year anniversary of the Women's Society Club and Paxton Osgood is determined to hold the gala celebration at the Blue Ridge Madame, Walls of Water's oldest grand home. The renovation is almost complete and Paxton's brother Colin, a landscape architect, has come home to put on the finishing touches. Willa Jackson watches the restoration from afar. The Blue Ridge Madame once belonged to her family, long before she was born, but was lost when the family hit financial ruin. Still she can't help but be drawn to the grand house. During the removal of a 50 year old peach tree, the skeletal remains of a man are found, with a few personal items. The discovery of this skeleton brings Willa and Paxton together to protect their grandmothers from incrimination and leads to the discovery of why the Women's Society Club was originally founded.

After her mother dies, Emily goes to live with her grandfather in her mother's hometown. There she discovers that her mother is universally despised for being the cause of a young man's suicide years ago. Unable to reconcile this story with the mother she knew, Emily tries to get the story out of the few townspeople who will talk to her. Julia is counting the days until her late father's debt is paid off and she can leave this town once more. Spurring her desire to leave is a man named Sawyer, whose actions toward her in her youth make it impossible for her to yield to his insistence that she go out with him now.

I'd describe these books as slightly heavier than chick lit with enough magical realism thrown in to make the novels feel whimsical but not ridiculous. These are not my usual fare, but I do enjoy this type of book from time to time, especially if I've been reading heavier fiction like Neal Stephenson or a long sci-fi series. Both of these novels are set in small towns and the mentalities that come with it. The Peach Keeper particularly struck a chord with me as Willa describes what it's like to feel like as an outsider in a small town even though you've lived there your whole life, which is something I definitely identify with; then conversely Paxton cannot understand what is so horrible about her hometown that every one she's grown up with is so eager to leave it behind, which I sometimes understand because not everything about living in a small town was horrible.

Whimsical Tea!

I enjoyed these books and I'd recommend them to anyone who needs a bit of light reading to clear their mind. Sarah Addison Allen has two other novels that I havent' gotten to yet, but I'll definitely pick them up next time I find myself bogged down by my reading list.