ISBN-13: 9780553385885
Publisher: Bantam Books
Published: April 2008
320pp
First line: Every smiley moon, without fail, Claire dreamed of her childhood.
Claire Waverley lives in a beautiful Queen Ann style house in Bascom, North Carolina. It has been occupied by the Waverley family for generations. It has a beautiful garden and the plants they grow have magical quanlities in them. Amongst all, the most magical one has to be the apple tree because not only it bears fruit all year round, but it is known to the Waverley that whoever eats the apple from that tree will see the biggest events in their life.
Besides using some of the plants for her dishes, Claire devotes most of her time to her catering business. She will include these plants as part of an ingredient into her dishes, depending on her clients' needs or preferences. For example, honeysuckle enables one to see in the dark, pansy encourages the eater to give compliments and surprise gifts, while the rose geranium produces memories of past good times.
Alas, just when she thinks her life is quiet and peaceful, Tyler Hughes walks into her life. She only realizes he is her neighbour after a short introduction when she catered for a party event at Orion college. Tyler Hughes is an arts professor and he told her he had moved into Bascom for a year since he took up the teaching position. Though intrigued with him, Claire does not bother to know more about him, after all she is not an extrovert. And most Bascom residents think the Waverley members are different and a little weird anyway.
Then things just got more complicated when she finds Sydney, her sister back into her life since she had walked out of the family and left Bascom ten years ago. Tagging along with her is her five-year-old daughter, Bay. They are on the run from Sydney's abusive husband and she knew home would be the safest place. Claire knew Sydney is not particularly happy being a Waverley and living in Bascom in the past, but in spite of that Claire welcomes them home. They settle down quickly, though Sydney is not prepared to meet her first love and his wife, and the gossip surrounding her from the past.
There are a lot of things happening towards the middle of the story and most of the times I find myself flipping through the pages eagerly as I could not wait to find out what happened next. I liked the characters in this story, especially the quirky Aunt Evanelle who is a distant cousin of the Waverley family. She is funny and she somehow possess the ability of predicting something will happen next and will come up with all the necessary stuff. I also enjoyed reading the 'tension' between Claire and Tyler, as well as her reconnection with Sydney. I also liked reading how an outcome of events have helped Sydney changed her outlook on life and being a Waverley member.
Sarah Addison Allen has weaved a heartwarming, magical story in
Garden Spells. If you enjoy mystical fictions with a little romance element, this book will surely entrance you.
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