This was in a big bag of books purchased at an estate sale for $2.00.

hard back with dust cover

Endowed with peculiar and intuitive gifts, the Waverley family are outsiders in their hometown of Bascom, North Carolina. Their garden is reputed to have an apple tree with prophetic fruit and edible flowers with special powers.

I enjoyed the book at first, with sisters Claire and Sydney reconnecting after so many years of estrangement, but the plot descends into the romance genre during the second half. The climax is over before it becomes as menacing as it should have been, and the way in which it is resolved is ludicrous.

Southern Independent Booksellers Association (SIBA) Book Award, 2008

Saw this on mrsjones' wishlist and I'm sending it to her in Ohio as an RABCK

I was thrilled to come home from work and find this in my mailbox. Thank you so much, pinklady60! I can't wait to start reading it.

I enjoyed this book very much. I liked the herbal/wiccan sense of it and the domestic violence theme. (I used to be a domestic violence counselor.) I thought there were a lot of unique features in this strange/witchy tale. I LOVED the apple tree. Very 'Tree of Knowledge-ish', but it also reminded me of 'The Wizard of Oz' and the apple tree in that book/movie was one of my favorite magical qualities in the story.

I also liked Evanelle's compulsory gift-giving. That was fun.

I didn't think it got as romance-y as you did, pinklady, and the quick DV encounter toward the end was fine with me. I think they often drag on way too long and the abuser can't be thwarted because he seems to have some sort of superhuman qualities to him. I always hate that, so was very satisfied with this ending instead.

I think I may look for more by this author. This was a nice book to sit and read outside.

I did not leave this by the ferris wheel. I actually left it inside the quilt tent during the Appalachian Festival today. I thought the book fit the theme nicely. Though it wasn't set in Appalachian territory, it could have been and would have worked just as well.

Hope it finds an appreciative reader. Enjoy!