The Peach Keeper

March 7, 2011
At 30, Willa Jackson returns to her small Southern hometown, Walls of Water, N.C., in the wake of a failed marriage to her college sweetheart. She's determined now to lead the quiet life she believes her father wants her to have, but is soon derailed by the wealthy and powerful Osgoods, the family that shaped her high school experience. The Jacksons were also wealthy once, until the logging industry failed, and Willa's teenage grandmother went to work as a maid for the Osgoods. Paxton Osgood, Willa's counterpart, has everything Willa envies—wealth, beauty and a sense of belonging—but Paxton hides a deep loneliness and discontent. To further complicate Willa's unrest, Paxton's brother, Colin, fled town years before but has returned and become an irresistible force in Willa's life. When a skeleton that holds the secret to both the Osgood and Jackson family fortunes is discovered at the Jackson family's old estate, long-held beliefs are likely to be overturned. Allen (The Girl Who Chased the Moon) 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.

November 1, 2010

Her marriage a shambles, Willa Jackson returns home to Walls of Water, the town where she grew up, and tries to fit in. There she discovers an extraordinary feud that has divided two sisters for decades. Hmm, Allen's standard small-town charm, maybe not the usual flights of fantasy--but then I haven't read it yet. Lots of promotion, including to libraries and cooking/foodie websites.

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2011
In the mountain resort town of Walls of Water, North Carolina, the Osgood and Jackson families lives have always been tangled up in the history of the Blue Ridge Madam, a derelict Victorian home on the outskirts of town. Now, as president of the Womens Society Club, Paxton Osgood hopes to unveil the extensive renovations her family has underwritten at a gala celebrating the clubs 75th anniversary. It would be nice if Willa Jackson, granddaughter of one of the clubs founders, could be there, too. But Willa is too proud to accept the invitation, having struggled to overcome her teenage reputation as a devil-may-care prankster. Yet when a human skeleton is unearthed at the Madam just days before the party, Paxton and Willa join forces to identify the remains, a project that forges a surprising friendship and launches more than one love affair. In this delectable, read-in-one-sitting treasure, Allen once again demonstrates her astonishing ability to believably blur the lines between the magical and the mundane.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)