Sharp Words

7 out of 10

The kind people in the marketing department at Hodder & Stoughton sent me an advance reading copy of this, so naturally, I’m reviewing it, even though it’s not my usual sort of reading material.

Even without it being the sort of thing I’d usually read, I did enjoy this novel a lot. It’s a sweet little romance story with fantasy elements that wouldn’t be too strong for someone who doesn’t normally read fantasy (it’s the ‘romance’ aspect that isn’t something I normally read!) with appealing characters and a happy fairytale-like plot.

Claire Waverley lives in Bascom, North Carolina, in the house where generations of Waverleys have lived. She’s a professional caterer, using the plants that grow in her garden to produce some interesting dishes which do more than just please the palate. Although she has few friends and an outwardly boring life, she’s content enough until her younger sister Sydney comes home with daughter Bay in tow, right after the very interesting man next door has made his interest in Claire very clear.

The story covers how Claire and Sydney deal with the changes in their lives over a few weeks of summer, and features an engaging cast of supporting characters.
There’s cousin Evanelle, whose Waverley gift is that she gives people what they’re shortly going to need, be it a coin or a cigarette lighter or a package of Pop Tarts. There’s Fred, the local store manager, whose relationship is not so much falling apart as slowly dissolving. There’s Emma, married to Sydney’s high school sweetheart and desperate to use every trick at her disposal to keep him. There’s Tyler, the arty next-door-neighbour, and there’s Henry who was Sydney’s best friend as a child. All these characters have important parts to play in Claire, Sydney and Bay’s stories.

I particularly liked the small-town feeling the novel gave me. You get the sense that everything that happens there is known by everyone else, and that people take an interest in each other. Everyone knows that the Waverley women each have their own little magic gift, and it’s taken completely for granted by Bascom’s inhabitants, too, - in the same way that all Clark women, like Emma, are said to be great in bed.
I admit that this sat a little awkwardly with me at first, as being totally unrealistic. But then I reckoned that if I could suspend my disbelief enough to accept that the apple tree in Claire’s garden has apples all year round and likes throwing them at people, then I could accept that everyone was OK with the Waverley gifts.

All in all, I liked this novel, and I’ve passed it on to a friend who I think will enjoy it too. It’s not my usual sort of thing and I wouldn’t seek out this sort of story… but I enjoyed it as a light and easy and amusing read.