Books can be possessive, can’t they? You’re walking around in a bookstore and a certain one will jump out at you, like it had moved there on its, just to get your attention. – Sarah Allison Allen, The Sugar Queen
I heard about Sarah Addison Allen when reading through some old cannonball posts for inspiration, so it should be no surprise to my fellow cannonballers that, after devouring Garden Spells, I went on to read everything that she’s written, with one notable exception: I could not bring myself to read Lost Lake. This is in part because I found myself so immersed in the other books and in part because it features the untimely death of a spouse, which is one of my worst fears. Combining the prospect of becoming heavily entangled in the book with this plot feature is just not something I can handle right now. However, I did read Garden Spells, The Peach Keeper, The Girl Who Chased the Moon, and The Sugar Queen, and enjoyed all but one of the books. Allen’s descriptive narratives serve as a love letter to female friendships. She emphasizes the friendship between women over romantic relationships, which was a refreshing turn from stories that focus on only one of the many types of relationships that are important to a person.
I love Sarah Addison Allen’s books, and it was very interesting reading your thoughts on her books. I totally understand your fear of losing a spouse, but can assure you that Lost Lake also is an excellent book. I agree with you that The Girl Who Chased the Moon is her weakest book.
Damn, I’m going to have to read it. Maybe I’ll do it as my first for 2015?
These do sound interesting.
Happy Half Cannonball!
I read The Girl Who Chased the Moon last week for a book club and was underwhelmed. But if it’s the weakest of her novels, then I’ll check out some of her other stuff, since there was some good stuff.
I thought the magic was the weakest part of the novel. Like, why does nobody else admit to their abilities when…what’s his face revealed himself to the town? Why did nobody go, “Oh, hey, you glow? I can see cake smells. This town is nuts! Well, rock on with the glowing, man.” You know?
I completely agree. In the other books the magic was much more charming and interesting, but in the Girl who Chased the Moon it was really underwhelming. I just don’t understand what the big deal was with the glowing, I just couldn’t. Also, glowing or not, can we stop pretending that showing up at a girl’s house in the middle of the night is cool?