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The Peach Keeper  By  cover art

The Peach Keeper

By: Sarah Addison Allen
Narrated by: Karen White
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Editorial reviews

They say you’ll never find friends like the ones who knew you when you were young and for the women in Sarah Addison Allen’s The Peach Keeper, that wisdom is half right. The story traces the relationships between two sets of women Agatha and Georgie and their granddaughters, Paxton and Willa who travel the winding path of lifelong friendship and the detours along the way.

Narrator Karen White lends her gentle tone to three generations of families in the town of Walls of Water, North Carolina, a southern escape that’s become more of a trap for Paxton and Willa. As part of a celebration of the town’s Women’s Society Club, started by Agatha and Georgie when they were teenagers, Paxton takes on the overhaul of the town’s most acclaimed property: A breathtaking mansion that Willa’s relatives were forced to sell when they lost their fortune. But when landscapers discover a dead body buried on the property, the town starts looking at the Club, the property, and its history in a whole new way.

Paxton and Willa didn’t grow up as friends, but as adults they’re forced to work together to solve the mysteries their grandmothers left behind. White balances the complicated relationship of Paxton and Willa’s youth where they weren’t exactly enemies but definitely weren’t friends with their grown-up emotions, their love for their grandmothers, and their burgeoning friendship. Her grounded narration keeps listeners hooked while Paxton and Willa deal with questions of trust, surprising confidences, and unexpected similarities (along with one’s romantic entanglement with the other’s brother). In the end, The Peach Keeper is a story about the friends you make, the friends you keep, and the friends you never forget. Blythe Copeland

Publisher's summary

The New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Chased the Moon welcomes you to her newest locale: Walls of Water, North Carolina, where the secrets are thicker than the fog from the town’s famous waterfalls, and the stuff of superstition is just as real as you want it to be. It’s the dubious distinction of thirty-year-old Willa Jackson to hail from a fine old Southern family of means that met with financial ruin generations ago. The Blue Ridge Madam—built by Willa’s great-great-grandfather during Walls of Water’s heyday, and once the town’s grandest home—has stood for years as a lonely monument to misfortune and scandal. And Willa herself has long strived to build a life beyond the brooding Jackson family shadow. No easy task in a town shaped by years of tradition and the well-marked boundaries of the haves and have-nots. But Willa has lately learned that an old classmate—socialite do-gooder Paxton Osgood—of the very prominent Osgood family, has restored the Blue Ridge Madam to her former glory, with plans to open a top-flight inn. Maybe, at last, the troubled past can be laid to rest while something new and wonderful rises from its ashes. But what rises instead is a skeleton, found buried beneath the property’s lone peach tree, and certain to drag up dire consequences along with it. For the bones—those of charismatic traveling salesman Tucker Devlin, who worked his dark charms on Walls of Water seventy-five years ago—are not all that lay hidden out of sight and mind. Long-kept secrets surrounding the troubling remains have also come to light, seemingly heralded by a spate of sudden strange occurrences throughout the town. Now, thrust together in an unlikely friendship, united by a full-blooded mystery, Willa and Paxton must confront the dangerous passions and tragic betrayals that once bound their families—and uncover truths of the long-dead that have transcended time and defied the grave to touch the hearts and souls of the living. Resonant with insight into the deep and lasting power of friendship, love, and tradition, The Peach Keeper is a portrait of the unshakable bonds that—in good times and bad, from one generation to the next—endure forever.

©2011 Sarah Addison Allen (P)2011 Random House

Critic reviews

"Allen juggles smalltown history and mystical thriller, character development and eerie magical realism in a fine Southern gothic drama. The underlying tension will please and unnerve readers, as well as leave them eager for Allen's next." (Publisher's Weekly)

What listeners say about The Peach Keeper

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Love it

I don't know why everyone is hating on the narrator, I think she read the book in the most appropriate way. I adore this story and its beautiful message about friendship and supporting fellow women.

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Worth the read

Not my favorite of her stories but still worth the read. The narrator had a slightly awkward way of reading which made it a bit uncomfortable.

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Just a fan

I just love all of her books. It feels like the romance version of action adventure. There are twists, and turns, and secrets, intertwined with historical intrigue. And the whole time I find myself rooting for love.

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Enchanting

Sarah is by far my favorite author, and none of her books disappoint! Karen White did an amazing job narrating, making my first audio book adventure a pleasure :)

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Always great

I love all of her books. There are a few cameos by characters from her other books.

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Loved this one!

I have read several of Allen's books, and have loved every one of them! I love how she brings magic into her stories and it is so believable! Don't miss any of Sarah's books--I can't wait to read/listen to more!

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love this book

this book was even better the 2nd time. endearing characters and thought-provoking life lessons that everyone needs to learn. I love that some of the characters were able to come to a more full understanding of their parents. ones choices need not be the same as ones parents choices.

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Great Story

I love how the Sarah Addison Allen incorporated characters from her previous books in it.

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Couldn't stand the reader!

Would you try another book from Sarah Addison Allen and/or Karen White?

I like the author; however, the story was ruined by the narrator. I will be buying the paperback version instead because the narrator's voice is so whiny and annoying that I couldn't tolerate listening to it.

Would you be willing to try another book from Sarah Addison Allen? Why or why not?

Yes, I like the author. I also read Garden Spells which was great

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Voice reminded me of my children whining and begging.

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Wonderful !!!

Love Sarah Addison Allen ! Great story always light ,fun and a little mysterious mixed with love :) cant wait for her next book
all of her books are magical

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2 people found this helpful