Brina's Reviews > Garden Spells

I keep staring at Magic Lessons on my book shelf. I am so excited to read it, but it is a book club choice for next month, and I know myself: I will read the whole book in a day and then struggle to keep my mouth shut with all the spoilers I have. In need of other witchy books to tide me over until then, I came up with a list of books that are full of magical realism that I enjoy but not too spooky. While others crave spooky and scary books during October, my runaway imagination does not allow me to read anything that features vampires, monsters, or other things that go bump in the night. Dystopia, forget it. Stephen King that isn’t about his love of baseball, no way. Good witches, on the other hand, give me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. As I wait to read the latest installment of the Owens family saga, a friend suggested I read a series featuring the Waverley family of Bascom, North Carolina. The Waverleys are witchy enough to be part of my “not spooky and still chock full of magical” October.

The Waverley family of Bascom has been viewed as odd for generations. Most of the town knows to stay away from Waverley women because when they are around, strange things happen. This stems from the apple tree planted in their garden and the herbs and flowers that go into the Waverleys’ recipes. Each woman has a special gift, and, although they are labeled as witches outright, the women have utilized their talents to excel in society, much to the chagrin of other people in town. Evanelle Franklin, the current matriarch of the family, knows to give people gifts in anticipation of life changing events. Bascom views Evanelle as eccentric, yet no one can deny that her gifts do indeed forecast the future. She just knows, and she utilizes this wisdom to pass the knowledge of witchcraft down to her great nieces Claire and Sydney Waverley. Even if a Waverley woman tries to deny that she is magical, her gift eventually appears. One thing is clear though: do not tamper with the apple tree in the garden. It’s fruits know things that most human minds do not.

Bascom is a charming southern town located near Asheville and Hickory, North Carolina. It is one of these small towns full of quirky characters, yet the type that is a slice of Americana, a town that I enjoy reading about. While Bascom as a whole shuns the Waverleys, each family harbors their own secrets. The Clarks have been wealthy for a century, getting their way through sexual prowess. No one is snottier in this story than Ariel Clark, and the scenes featuring her made me want to scream in frustration. The Mattesons are known for honest, hard work, and Hopkins men marry older women. All of these families make up the fabric of a town that is home to Orion College, a lumberyard, dairies, and small businesses. One thing is clear: the Clarks and Waverleys have feuded for a century, and generations of Clarks have perpetuated the belief that the Waverleys are no good. Newcomers to Bascom would have to formulate their own opinions; however, because who could not help but love a gifted cook or hair dresser or a little girl who knows where things belong and makes one’s heart melt.

Garden Spells was Sarah Addison Allen’s first book. She inserted enough magical realism into her story to make it full of magical occurrences in ordinary life yet few enough to keep the story light and a bit cliched. Claire Waverley is thirty four and afraid of being in a relationship due to her family’s history. The next door neighbor, a newcomer named Tyler Hughes, falls for her, and, of course, Claire does not budge. Her sister Sydney arrives in town with daughter Bay in tow, settling in her family’s home that she once ran away from. It takes extroverted Sydney to get Claire out of her shell, and, as in most families, the sisters here are complete opposites. Perhaps it is because this is a debut, but the story and its twists ended up having obvious results, making the Waverley’s tale light and a little too cliched for my liking. Allen’s writing has been lauded as quality magical realism. That aspect of the novel is spot on, but the writing as a whole as well of the story, could use some polishing that I hope comes along in later books. As the Waverley story is intriguing enough to pique my interest, I would like to revisit them as long as the writing improves with time.

As a mood reader, I try not to read themes for an entire month as I find the stories spill into each other and become trite. There is something about witches and magical realism that has a hold on me from the opening pages of a story. Supernatural events that occur in real life and make an otherwise normal existence into a magical one have long lead to magical realism being my favorite genre. Whether it’s butter melting to signify love, flowers in recipes to stimulate emotions, or an apple tree that portends the future, Garden Spells is chock full of magical realism. While not at the level of the Owens family- I don’t think anything ever will be- the Waverley’s story has held my interest to last me through this magical month.

🍎 3.5 stars 🧙‍♀️ 💐 🍏