Meet the Waverleys

Thank you, whichever Cannonballer recommended this series to me when I said how much I was enjoying some of Sarah Addison Allen’s other books. It was an adorable, and I can’t wait to read the next one. To pass it along, anyone who likes Sarah Addison Allen or Alice Hoffman (Practical Magic) should definite check out the Waverleys. It was full of all that sweet magic and wonderful family drama.

“She sometimes thought she was going crazy. Her first thought when she woke up was always how to get him out of her thoughts. And she would keep watch, hoping to see him next door, while plotting ways to never have to see him again. ”

Sydney Waverly has returned home to Bascom, North Carolina with her five year old daughter, Bay. Sydney fled years ago, tired of the whispers about her family, and brokenhearted when her boyfriend dumped her for being from a lower class than his own. The Waverleys are notorious in Bascom for having a tree in their backyard — a magic tree that gives a vision to whomever eats its apples. Sydney’s whole family has some sort of magic gift or touch — including a far off cousin who will be suddenly struck with an idea of a gift for someone — a gift they always end up needing. Sydney has never discovered her family gift, and she’s been fine with it. But her daughter has an innate sense of where things –any and all things — belong, and so they return to Bascom, and to the family house that Sydney’s sister Claire has been tending to for years. A new neighbor has moved in next door — and when he ate an apple, as he see is Claire.

This book was, in a word, sweet. It’s about love — both romantic and familial — and having people you can rely on. It stays on just this side of treacle, and the writing is just as sweet as the plot. Allen has a great way with words, and I can’t wait to read the next one!