New in Paperback: The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

Southern fiction has its own smooth rhythms. You can feel this along with the smokey hues of the new South in the work of New York Times bestselling Sarah Addison Allen. Her most recent book, 2011’s The Peach Keeper (Bantam), is a memorable example of the best of the type of fiction that this author is becoming known for.

Secrets long hidden come to light in the garden of a grand home built by one of Willa Jackson’s ancestors. The results of the discovery put the faded Southern Belle at odds with socialite Paxton Osgood, even while some of the buried truths reveal a shared history neither knew anything about.

Addison Allen has a deft touch with magical realism. She skates about as close to the edge of fantasy and magic as possible without ever really getting there. It is this that sets her work apart. She manages to weave elements of mystery, thriller and romance together with a bit of genuine fairy dust and wrap it all in the fragrance of magnolia. The Peach Keeper is a wonderful, memorable book. ◊

Sienna Powers is a transplanted Calgarian who lives and works in Vancouver, B.C. She is a writer and conceptual artist.