Sarah Addison Allen has written three quirky small town Southern novels that mix gentle realism with magical fantasy. Her first book, Garden Spells, was a charming novel that set her template, which she followed to perfection in her second novel, The Sugar Queen.
Her most recent novel, The Girl Who Chased The Moon (which debuts at #10 on the New York Times list next week), has also been created out of the same blueprint and is also a winning fluffy concoction Here is what each book has in common:
Allen has the ability of balancing the precarious nature of this story realism versus enchanting magic. By this time, in her third book, she seems to have perfected it. The Moon is a short novel (around 65,000 words) but if it was any longer part of the charm would evaporate. It is much like Abraham Lincoln's comment about his legs - this novel is as long as it should be, long enough to get to the end of the story.
However, I am hoping that Allen soon moves away from this template. I'm sure her publisher is clamoring for more and more of the same because publishers have become infected with a Hollywood mentality - they only want what has sold before. I have no doubt Allen is capable of producing several more books from this template. But at the risk of becoming Dorthea Benton Frank.
Frank wrote one entertaining novel, her first - Sullivan's Island. Every book that followed Sullivan's Island has been a weaker knock-off until currently Frank is writing what amounts to a parody of her first success, embarrassing and pointless. Sarah Addison Allen may be approaching that abyss, but she has several things in her favor.
First of all, Allen is a much better writer than Frank, who at best is chatty and sappy. Allen has a real gift of developing characters and situations. Since she is a young woman, I can see a long literary career for Allen, somewhat like Maeve Binchy has created ... yes, Allen has that sort of talent. Here's hoping that Allen soon moves past this magical food realism story line and into meatier (pun intended) and more involved stories. I, for one, will be anxious to read them.
BIBLIO SAYS: Highly recommended.
Companion read: Choclat by Joanne Harris
Her most recent novel, The Girl Who Chased The Moon (which debuts at #10 on the New York Times list next week), has also been created out of the same blueprint and is also a winning fluffy concoction Here is what each book has in common:
- a small North Carolina town
- a couple of disjointed female characters with tragedy in their past
- a cast of quirky characters - some of whom seem to possess otherworldly abilities that center around food
Allen has the ability of balancing the precarious nature of this story realism versus enchanting magic. By this time, in her third book, she seems to have perfected it. The Moon is a short novel (around 65,000 words) but if it was any longer part of the charm would evaporate. It is much like Abraham Lincoln's comment about his legs - this novel is as long as it should be, long enough to get to the end of the story.
However, I am hoping that Allen soon moves away from this template. I'm sure her publisher is clamoring for more and more of the same because publishers have become infected with a Hollywood mentality - they only want what has sold before. I have no doubt Allen is capable of producing several more books from this template. But at the risk of becoming Dorthea Benton Frank.
Frank wrote one entertaining novel, her first - Sullivan's Island. Every book that followed Sullivan's Island has been a weaker knock-off until currently Frank is writing what amounts to a parody of her first success, embarrassing and pointless. Sarah Addison Allen may be approaching that abyss, but she has several things in her favor.
First of all, Allen is a much better writer than Frank, who at best is chatty and sappy. Allen has a real gift of developing characters and situations. Since she is a young woman, I can see a long literary career for Allen, somewhat like Maeve Binchy has created ... yes, Allen has that sort of talent. Here's hoping that Allen soon moves past this magical food realism story line and into meatier (pun intended) and more involved stories. I, for one, will be anxious to read them.
BIBLIO SAYS: Highly recommended.
Companion read: Choclat by Joanne Harris
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