The Peach Keeper
by Sarah Addison AllenBantam Books, 2011
Review by Ana Berumen for CraftyChica.com
We were all given labels in high school. There were the populars, the jocks, the punks, the loner, and little miss perfect. So try getting away from these labels when you are from a small town. Willa and Paxton do just that in The Peach Keeper.
Laced with superstitions and mystery, this is a story of two unlikely women bonding over an unlikely event. Willa is an independent, head strong woman, intent on folding laundry every Friday. Paxton juggles the running of a society club and her mother’s oppression all while trying not to fall in love with a gay man. While renovating The Blue Ridge Madam for the society club’s gala, a skeleton is found buried under a peach tree. Who was it? How did it get there? Paxton the princess, and Willa the joker, come together to find the
answers to these questions. The answers may just be held by their grandmothers.
But how do you get answers from one who is locked in her dementia and another
who is blind and cranky? Hidden behind the endless superstitions, love interests
and claims of magic, is a beautiful story of two women forming a friendship, and
learning what it means to be a friend. Beyond the mystery, it’s a page turner,
if just to find out what these characters will do next.
I loved this book, it was a perfect pool side read. No wait, it was more than
that. It ended up being a good airport read, a good waiting room read and a good
there-is-nothing-good-on-tv read. It made me into one of those annoying people
who walk and read with no concern for the people they are crashing into. I was
hooked into the mystery and the story but more than that, I yearned for Willa
and Paxton to walk arm and arm into the sunset. A good friendship is hard to
come by and I relished in the afterglow of theirs.
‘Ana Marie is a reading, writing, crafting superhero’ fighthopeheal.blogspot.com
Thanks Kathy for the book review. I was pondering on what book I should select for our next book club installment. This one sounds like it will be a great and quick read. Our book club is far from one of those “nazi” run types, we eat lots, joke lots, drink vino lots and just have a great time, but then you get a bunch of crazy Latinas, with a mixture of one crazy Irish and Lebonese ladies, you can’t help but have a fun time!!
Our last book club meeting, last week, was at one of the member’s house. We read “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen. One of our members has access to, shall we say, black market videos so we saw the movie with Spanish subtitles. Most of us are bilingual, so we couldn’t help but read some of the subtitles…they were hilarious…we figured the person who did the translating from English to Spanish was either, someone who didn’t have a very good command of the English language, a person who spoke, “English very few,” or Chinese!! Anyway, it was a fun evening an we had great time!!
Abrazos,
Georgina