Garden Spells

By: Sarah Addison Allen

Narrated by: Susan Ericksen

Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

The Waverleys have always been a curious family, endowed with peculiar gifts that make them outsiders even in their hometown of Bascom, North Carolina. Even their garden has a reputation, famous for its feisty apple tree that bears prophetic fruit, and its edible flowers, imbued with special powers.

Generations of Waverleys tended this garden. Their history was in the soil. But so were their futures.

A successful caterer, Claire Waverley prepares dishes made with her mystical plants - from the nasturtiums that aid in keeping secrets and the pansies that make children thoughtful, to the snapdragons intended to discourage the attentions of her amorous neighbor.

Meanwhile, her elderly cousin, Evanelle, is known for distributing unexpected gifts whose uses become uncannily clear. They are the last of the Waverleys - except for Claire's rebellious sister, Sydney, who fled Bascom the moment she could, abandoning Claire, as their own mother had years before.

When Sydney suddenly returns home with a young daughter of her own, Claire's quiet life is turned upside down - along with the protective boundary she has so carefully constructed around her heart. Together again in the house they grew up in, Sydney takes stock of all she left behind, as Claire struggles to heal the wounds of the past. And soon the sisters realize they must deal with their common legacy - if they are ever to feel at home in Bascom - or with each other.

©2007 Sarah Addison Allen (P)2007 Brilliance Audio

Critic reviews

"The blending of horticultural folklore, the supernatural and a big dollop of Southern flavor should find favor with a wide swath of readers." ( Publishers Weekly)
"Spellbindingly charming, Allen's impressively accomplished debut novel will bewitch fans of Alice Hoffman and Laura Esquivel." ( Booklist)

Engrossing Story

This is a very moving story that leaves you with a happy feeling. There are a few f- words and sexually descriptive scenes.

It had it’s moments but overall dull

The narration wasn’t great,especially when the narration was on phone conversations,ugh ,that wasn’t good.Story had moments where I thought okay getting good and then it just fizzed out .Underwhelmed,bored ,hoped for more but unfortunately it didn’t happen.Not a read I will remember tomorrow.sad to say .I enjoyed her recent book but not this one .

Not a spell binding book

It was interesting but not to the point of "OMG I can't wait to get back to it". Too many different story lines going on.

love this book

I love garden spells. I have listened to and read this book a million times. thank you

Fun and fanciful story.

This was an enjoyable read with many insightful moments. Feels a bit like the characters' lives were a lesson in hyperbole, but the author succeeded in making them seem more realistic than fairy tale. I will definitely read the sequel.

A wonderful story!

Garden Spells is a delightful story, well written, very pleasant to listen to, a feel-good book. I loved it!

Listened to the whole book in one day.

A friend from the library told me that you could always count on this author for a good story. She is absolutely right.

If you like magical stories, you'll love this one.

Would you listen to Garden Spells again? Why?

No, but not because it's not a good book, it's just that there are very few books I have ever liked enough to read or listen to again.

Any additional comments?

I hate to compare it to the Sandra Bullock movie 'Practical Magic', but they're too much alike not to. Different, but similar. But, 'Practical Magic' is one of my favorite movies, and I've always had a penchant for all things 'magical', so I loved this book. The ending is different than the movie, thankfully. I wasn't exactly sure how she was going to pull it together, but, of course, she did. There's a lot of humor centering around The Tree, which is fun to read. And it was nice to see the two sisters grow closer, too. The only thing I wished the author had brought a resolution to was the phone call at the end. After it was made, it wasn't mentioned again. And, it would have been nice, in my opinion, for it to have been acknowledged by someone, sometime, somewhere...

delughtful

I loved this story. It was sweet and enduring. I never lost interest and didn"t want it to end.

Just amazing

I loved everything about this book. The story fully wrapped around you like a warm blanket. There were ups and downs and even moments where I was holding my breathe. I would recommend this book to all my friends who love a good romance story.