First Frost
Series: Waverley Family, Book 2
By: Sarah Addison Allen / Narrated By: Susan Ericksen
Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
Gotta say, I liked this one better than Garden Spells
Well, whadda ya know: A sequel that’s better than the first. Not only that, but after listening to First Frost, I admit to dashing back to Audible to see if maybe, perhaps, just hopin’, there was a third book.
Alas, there is not, so I’ll just have to satisfy myself with this for now. This is an Autumn book, but Bascomb, North Carolina and the Waverley women are waiting for first frost to fall around Halloween this year. Whereas the first book was about Claire and Sydney Waverley reuniting and learning to trust and love each other as sisters after a lengthy and rather cold absence, this story has both women going all crazy, cuz that’s what happens around first frost, with the old magical apple tree wreaking havoc on everybody’s life.
What I liked most about this book is that Sydney’s daughter, Bay, is now 15-years old, and we get to see a bit what it’s like for a Waverley woman to come of age. Bay’s Waverley magic is to know, just know deep in her soul, where and how things belong. To know where people belong.
And she knows where a certain boy belongs: With her. But he’s of the wrong clan, plus he’d rather pretend she doesn’t exist, what with her breaking down and sending him a note that’s pretty much revealed her heart to him. What teen-aged boy, a senior no less, wants THAT?!? No, she’s left to pining, but not in an annoying way to the point where the story becomes exasperating.
Add to that a mysterious old man shows up in town and starts asking questions about Claire, and who knows what HIS intentions are (Turns out they’re plenty rotten)? But he has stories of his own, and he might be fairly beguiling in his own right.
I thought there was just the right amount of magic in this book whereas I thought Garden Spells kinda sorta had the magical bits written in as afterthoughts to just get the sense of it. And of course, magic sells as who doesn’t wanna read something enchanting? First Frost has more of it even tho’, say, Bay’s “magic” doesn’t seem all that special. But I dunno, maybe it’s not magic, and maybe it’s more about heart. This story just seems to have more of everything.
Recently I listened to Susan Ericksen narrate The Abundance by Annie Dillard, and I thought that her performance couldn’t get anywhere near saving that (oddly enough) poorly written borefest. And perhaps Ericksen isn’t the most nuanced of narrators out there (Sometimes her tones are rather flat and brittle), but I thought she brought a lot of charm to everything this go-round. She certainly made Bay’s story, Claire’s fears, Sydney’s obsessions, warm and vibrant.
No, this isn’t a horror show Halloween book fraught with conjuring and mayhem. Rather it’s a sweet ditty straight from the heart, and it reminds us all that Halloween does indeed come smack-dab in the middle o’ Autumn, with all the chill and crispness that anyone could want during the season. I dunno, I’ve always gotten rather melancholic and wishful around this time in fall, so maybe that’s why I really, really liked the book.
But maybe you have the same kinda yearning yourself? Treat yourself to this, something with a bit more charm than your (Or perhaps I should say My) ordinary fare of chick lit. I do so love stories about sisters, and I do so love stories about people growing older and doing the best they can.
And I do so love my chick lit with that touch of magic that Addison Allen can usually bring. This one’s a hit for me.
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