In a garden surrounded by a tall fence, tucked away behind a
small, quiet house in an even smaller town, is an apple tree
that is rumored to bear a very special sort of fruit. In
this luminous debut novel, Sarah Addison Allen tells the
story of that enchanted tree, and the extraordinary people
who tend it.
The Waverleys have always been a curious family, endowed
with peculiar gifts that make them outsiders even in their
hometown of Bascom, North Carolina. Even their garden has a
reputation, famous for its feisty apple tree that bears
prophetic fruit, and its edible flowers, imbued with special
powers. Generations of Waverleys tended this garden. Their
history was in the soil. But so were their futures.
A successful caterer, Claire Waverley prepares dishes made
with her mystical plants -- from the nasturtiums that aid in
keeping secrets and the pansies that make children
thoughtful, to the snapdragons intended to discourage the
attentions of her amorous neighbor. Meanwhile, her elderly
cousin, Evanelle, is known for distributing unexpected gifts
whose uses become uncannily clear. They are the last of the
Waverleys -- except for Claire's rebellious sister, Sydney,
who fled Bascom the moment she could, abandoning Claire, as
their own mother had years before.
When Sydney suddenly returns home with a young daughter of
her own, Claire's quiet life is turned upside down -- along
with the protective boundary she has so carefully
constructed around her heart. Together again in the house
they grew up in, Sydney takes stock of all she left behind,
as Claire struggles to heal the wounds of the past. And soon
the sisters realize they must deal with their common legacy
-- if they are ever to feel at home in Bascom -- or with
each other.
Enchanting and heartfelt, this captivating novel is sure to
cast a spell with a style all its own...
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