Garden Spells

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

This book weaves local legend & magical realism into the everyday lives of the residents of Bascom, North Carolina. Our focus is on the Waverley family, whose garden is said to produce flowers with magical properties and is home to a rather ornery apple tree.

Claire & Sydney are the Waverley sisters, they’ve also got their aunt Evanelle & Sydney’s daughter Bay. All the Waverly’s possess a unique magic. Claire has the family knowledge of the garden and recipes, Sydney has an uncanny talent with styling hair to bring out the best version of people, Bay knows where things belong and Evanelle - whose magic is my personal favorite - is compelled to give people odd things that always seem to become necessary in unexpected ways.

And while the magic is a beautiful aspect of the book that enhances our story, the tale itself is more about learning to overcome past hurt, rumors or trauma to learn to trust yourselves and others enough to let the right people back in. It’s about the ability we each have to choose our community & family. It’s about the best magic of all - the magic that connects people to each other. It’s about looking forward instead of living in the past, and the courage it takes to make those first steps towards something new.

I found this to be a very refreshing, restorative read. I gained some perspective into my own journey that I hadn’t necessarily expected to find. And I am very much looking forward to reading the next two Waverley family books.

Favorite Quotes:

You are who you are, whether you like it or not, so why not like it?

When you're happy for yourself, it fills you. When you're happy for someone else, it pours over. It was almost too bright to watch.

All my life I've chased dreams of what could be. For the first time in my life, I've actually caught one.