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Book Review

Publisher's Note:

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 troubli…

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The Peach Keeper

by Sarah Addison Allen

Overall Book Review:

Author Sarah Addison Allen has a way with words. While reading The Peach Keeper, I could smell homemade lemon pies and fresh peaches on each page! Allen takes four characters whose lives are marred with regret and mixes in life-altering secrets, ghosts and a little bit of Southern magic to create this charming novel. Readers will enjoy the blossoming romances and the emphasis on change and true friendship. Though the story’s biggest secret wasn’t all too surprising, I still enjoyed going along for the ride. The Peach Keeper is a perfect read for a lazy summer afternoon. 

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 15 religious exclamations, 7 mild obscenities, 1 religious profanities, 1 derogatory name, 1 anatomical term.

Violence/Gore: A character recalls her father being hit by a car and killed; a character hits a man on the head with a frying pan, seriously injuring him.

Sex/Nudity: Numerous incidents of kissing and flirting; some men make sexual references to a woman; a few incidents of touching and caressing; reported rape between a man and a minor; implied sexual activity between two adults; a mature discussion regarding sex; an extended scene alluding to rape between a character and a minor. 

Mature Subject Matter:

Teen pregnancy, rape, homosexuality, murder, friendship, love.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Characters are frequently drinking; one character gets drunk.

Overall Book Rating
Profanity/Language
Rating:
3
10
Violence/Gore
Rating:
3
10
Sex/Nudity
Rating:
6
10

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About the Reviewer

My mother was the one who sparked my love of books. Long before school instruction, she sat me down and taught me to read. My childhood was filled with trips to the library and bookmobile to find great books. My first loves were The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Pippi Longstocking series by Astrid Lingren. Now as a mom and speech pathologist, I am constantly looking for good, clean books to use at home and in therapy. I enjoy reading many different genres, but my favorites are usually historical fiction. I married my best friend, the “boy next door”, and we have a beautiful little girl who we often find sprawled out on the floor, flipping through picture books. Together our family likes to swim, run and play tennis. Besides reading, I also love to bake, garden and travel.