First Frost

Sarah Addison Allen tells such wonderful stories. Her particular style of gentle, southern (but not campy, over the top southern), magic realism is like comfort food in the shape of a book for me.

I discovered her several years ago at my local library. Her first novel, Garden Spells, found its way onto my stack of books one day (I liked the cover picture) and I devoured it in one sitting. Since then, she's been one of my favorite authors and I look forward to each new book she writes.

First Frost is a book that didn't need to be written. That's not to say it shouldn't have been written - it's a good book and I'm so glad it exists. But it didn't need to be. Garden Spells could easily have remained a standalone novel - I never felt for one second that I'd been left hanging at the end. That said, I'm so very glad Allen did write a sequel. Opening this book and getting lost in the continued story of the enchanting Waverley women of Bascom, North Carolina was such an unexpected treat.

There are cons, of course. There always are, aren't there? The plot was a little thin - there wasn't a lot of there there, if you know what I mean. I got the impression that maybe this book was written as an answer to the question authors must get all the time when it comes to beloved characters: "But what happened after that?" Fortunately, Allen is a talented enough writer that she can even make an unnecessary sequel into a pretty darned good read.

Allen has a real talent for creating wonderful settings you find yourself wishing you could visit and for creating characters you wish you could meet. She's gifted in weaving the magical elements of her stories into reality. That's why I think of her as gentle magic realism. She doesn't hit you over the head with her world's quirks. She doesn't make the magical elements so over the top that they take you out of the story. She mixes just enough fairy dust into her stories that you start to think that maybe somewhere out there, there is someone who just knows where things belong. Or who can cook her feelings into the food she prepares.

Was this book her best? No. As I've mentioned, the plot was thin and wrapped up a little too hurriedly and easily at the end. There are some loose threads that make me wonder if there is to be a third Waverley novel and there's just not quite enough Evanelle. There's also just the faintest bit of detachment throughout. As I hinted at earlier, I wonder what the ultimate motivation for the writing of this particular story was. Allen's other books are just a little bit fuller, a little bit richer. This one had a little bit of going-through-the-motion-ness to it that I've not ever experienced from one of her novels before. Still, it's a good book and an enjoyable read. I don't think I'll be re-reading it as often as I do her other works but it still ranks pretty high on my list of favorites this year.