The Peach Keeper

Karen White uses strong narrative skills to portray Willa Jackson, who returns to her small North Carolina hometown in a quest to redefine herself. In the resort town of Walls of Water, she discovers three others who are also searching for their true selves. White's reading works well to deliver Allen's plot and multifaceted characters. Willa, for example, masks insecurities about her family's fall from social prominence and struggles to uncover their long-held secrets. White also depicts the quirkiness of minor characters like Agatha, a petulant octogenarian who knows much about dramas of the past. White's interpretation works well for this mix of mystery, romance, and a touch of magical realism. S.W. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

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.