Rating: ****
Tags: Fiction, Family secrets, Literary, Contemporary Women, Family Life, Domestic Fiction, Self-actualization (Psychology) in women, North Carolina, Sagas, Lang:en
Summary
A Letter from Author Sarah Addison Allen
She put a penny on her windowsill and cracked the window,
because her grandmother once said that ghosts often forget
they’re ghosts and will go after money, but if they get
close enough to an open window, the night air will suck them
out.
The original title of
The Peach Keeper was
God Eats Peaches, which I took from the old saying,
“When God eats peaches, He saves the pit.” I had a
cousin who would never throw away a peach pit based on that
saying. She thought it was bad luck. My family is full of
strange Southern superstitions. My great-aunt never liked for
company to come in through one door and leave through another
because she said that meant the preacher would visit. How many of us grew up seeing our mothers throw a pinch of
salt over their shoulders when salt was spilled? How many of us
remember when our grandmothers whispered that a bird tapping on
a window meant someone was going to die? We took these things
on trembling faith as children, believing them to be real
because
everything was real back then. Everything had
possibilities. So how do we explain, with our skeptical
grown-up natures, why we still make an X in the air when a
black cat passes. Why we still have to eat something in the
morning before we will tell someone about our bad dreams. Why
we still worry about umbrellas being opened indoors. What is it about superstitions that stay with us, that
encourage us to pass them on? Flights of fancy, maybe. Or
nostalgia. Or maybe the power of the unknown is just that
strong. We can’t help but think: What if it’s true?
What if it just might be true? So we take an ounce of
prevention instead of a pound of cure. We knock on wood and
avoid ladders and never break mirrors. Just in case. Praise for _The Peach Keeper _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.
Praise for Sarah Addison Allen’s
The Girl Who Chased the Moon
“Captivating . . . Sarah Addison Allen produces
tantalizing fiction.”—_The Roanoke Times_ “A dusting of magic, the aroma of sugary cakes
swirling through the breeze, and a girl who unwittingly brings
change to a town of misfits make for a sweet summer story
filled with hope and forgiveness.”—Beth Hoffman,
author of
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt
“Charming and entertaining . . . Don’t miss this
spellbinding tale.”—_Asheville Citizen Times__
_ “Allen clearly knows that all the fun is in the
journey. . . . Sit back, open this book and join
her.”—Greensboro _News & Record
“Easy to devour in one sitting.” —_The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution_Amazon.com Review
--Chapter Eight,
The Peach Keeper
Review
-_Publisher's Weekly_
_
“An enjoyable read [with] doses of magical realism and
romance.”—Associated Press