The Peach Keeper (2011) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters/People edit see section history

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• Willa Jackson: Thirty-year-old woman from a fine old Southern family of means that met with financial ruin generations ago; owner of Au Naturel Sporting Goods and Café; perpetual joker as a youth.
• Paxton (Pax) Osgood: Socialite do-gooder; an old classmate of Willa's. Twin sister of Colin.
• Tucker Devlin: Charismatic traveling salesman who smells of over-ripe peaches and creates only tragedy in his wake. He arrived in Walls of Water in the mid-1930's.
• Colin Osgood: Landscape architect and Paxton's twin brother. He attended school with Willa and Sebastian and was blamed for all Willa's practical jokes.
• Claire Waverley: A much in demand caterer from another of Sarah Addison Allen's books, Garden Spells. She has a cameo appearance in this book. Caters events with edible flowers being her specialty. She is often asked to work her food-based magic by creating love potions.
• Rachel Edney: Operator of the coffee bar in Willa's store. She believes that there is a magic in coffee and studies it diligently.
• Grandmother Georgie Jackson: Willa's grandmother and one of the two co-founders of the Women's Society Club. She is currently in a nursing home diagnosed with a dementia.
• Agatha Osgood: Pax''s grandmother and one of the two co-founders of the Women's Society Club. She is currently in a nursing home diagnosed with a macular degeneration.
• Sophia Osgood: Paxton and Colin's mother
• Maria: Manager of the Historic Blue Ridge Madam Inn hired by Paxton from Charleston, SC.
• Kirsty Lemon: Wall of Waters realtor and Pax's childhood friend.
• Sebastian Rogers: Paxton's dearest friend who attended high school with Willa, Colun and Paxton. Paxton is in love with Sebastian but his sexuality is questionable.
• Bay Waverly: Claire Waverly's niece.

Quotes edit see section history

• “Right now everyone is drinking bad wine made of sour grapes and hysteria. Let them drink it, and let them regret it in the morning.”

  Sebastian

• “Why were girls in such a hurry to grow up? Agatha would never understand. Childhood was magical. Leaving it behind was a magnificent loss.”

• “When you're a teenager, your friends are your life. When you grow up, friendships seem to get pushed further and further back, until it seems like a luxury, a frivolity, like a bubble bath.”

  Kirsty Lemon

• “Fate never promises to tell you everything up front. You aren't always shown the path in life you're supposed to take. But if there was one thing she'd learned in the past few weeks, it was that sometimes, when you're really lucky, you meet someone with a map.”

• “Happiness is a risk. If you're not a little scared, then you're not doing it right.”

  Willa to Paxton

• “Fate never promises to tell you everything up front. you aren't always shown the path in life you're supposed to take. But if there was one thing she'd learned int eh past few weeks, it was that sometimes, when you're really lucky, you meet someone with a map.”

  Willa

• “Daughters of the South were to their mothers what tributaries were to the main rivers they flowed into: their source of immovable strength.”

• “There was nothing more satisfying than putting what you wanted most onto paper. It gave substance to something that was before as thin as air. It made it one step closer to being real.”

  Paxton

• “She fantasized about keeping a box of doughnuts on her kitchen counter and having no one comment on them.”

  Paxton

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Blue Ridge Madam: A dilapidated antebellum mansion under reformation by the Osgood family to become a bed-in-breakfast originally built by Willa's great-great-grandfather. Invitations have gone out to current and descendents of past members of the Women's Society Club.
• Hickory Cottage: Osgood's home. Pax lives in the pool house.
• Shady Tree Cottage: Sebastian Roger's house.
• Jackson Hill: Location for the Blue Ridge Madam.
• National Street: Entrance to the Cataract National Forest and location of Willa's store, Au Naturel Sporting Goods.
• Cataract National Forest: Government forest adjacent to Walls of Water which includes a number of waterfalls, including Tinpenny Falls, the area's most famous waterfall.

Organizations edit see section history

• Women's Society Club: A social club founded in 1936 to organize fund raisers, sponsor cultural events and give out annual scholarships. The organization is celebrating their 75th anniversary.

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Sarah Addison Allen (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PS3601.L4356P43 2011
• Dewey: 813

Notes for Parents edit see section history

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Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Women's Fiction › Friendship

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Author's Website

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