Monday, March 21

B's Monday Review: First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen

It's October in Bascom, North Carolina, and autumn will not go quietly. As temperatures drop and leaves begin to turn, the Waverley women are made restless by the whims of their mischievous apple tree... and all the magic that swirls around it. But this year, first frost has much more in store.

Claire Waverley has started a successful new venture, Waverley's Candies. Though her handcrafted confections-rose to recall lost love, lavender to promote happiness and lemon verbena to soothe throats and minds-are singularly effective, the business of selling them is costing her the everyday joys of her family, and her belief in her own precious gifts.

Sydney Waverley, too, is losing her balance. With each passing day she longs more for a baby- a namesake for her wonderful Henry. Yet the longer she tries, the more her desire becomes an unquenchable thirst, stealing the pleasure out of the life she already has.

Sydney's daughter, Bay, has lost her heart to the boy she knows it belongs to...if only he could see it, too. But how can he, when he is so far outside her grasp that he appears to her as little more than a puff of smoke?

When a mysterious stranger shows up and challenges the very heart of their family, each of them must make choices they have never confronted before. And through it all, the Waverley sisters must search for a way to hold their family together through their troublesome season of change, waiting for that extraordinary event that is First Frost.

My thoughts:
To be honest I have a dreadful memory (not that it matters, this works perfectly as a standalone). But I did read the first book 4 years ago, so that does explains it. I can not remember Clare's man, but I did remember after a while Sydney's Henry, well sort of, I had heard of him. I more remembered the general feeling of thing. The apple tree, the magic, them being on the outside of everyone else.

10 years have passed. Bay is a teenager, she has the magic to know where things belong.
Clare makes candy now, but is unhappy cos all she does is candy, and her heart is not in it. Even if the magic is.
Sydney is still cutting hair and making everyone's day with that magic, but she wants a baby, and is unhappy too.

First frost is coming and that is dangerous for the Waverly's. There is a stranger in town. Clare has a decision to make. Bay is in love. And Sydney must come to terms with her wish.

But it all works out perfectly. Magic is in the air, just, with this book I know the magic is there, totally, they totally have magic and that apple tree is totally magical.

Conclusion:
A sweet book.

Cover
nice

Paperback, 320 pages
Published January 5th 2016 by St. Martin's Griffin (first published January 20th 2015)
Waverley Family #2
Magical realism
Own

2 comments:

Blodeuedd said...

Yay for Addison Allen

Melliane said...

the magic used looks nice! Curious about it!