Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

I loved this book!  It was such a fast fun read.  I recommend it highly.

The Waverlys are a family of women who reside in Bascom, North Carolina.  All the Waverley women have reputations for having certain gifts.  Claire Waverley is a successful caterer, who prepares dishes made with the plants from her garden, which mysteriously blooms year round.  She has an apple tree with prophetic fruit, edible flowers that imbue people with special powers, and she's eccentric, reclusive, and an enigma.  Claire's distant relative Evanelle gives people things.  It is not always clear why she is supposed to give them something, but invariably some time after the gift is made a purpose is revealed.  Claire's sister Sydney, who ran away from Bascom the moment she could, returns suddenly one day and Claire's quiet and carefully tended life spins completely out of control.

This book is about so much more than two sisters reconnecting after many years.  It is full of magic and enchantment, and flower lore, and just plain joie de vivre.  Sarah Addison Allen, the author, was born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina, a place Rolling Stone magazine once called "America's New Freak Capital."  She has a B.A. in Literature because she thought it would be amazing to get a diploma for reading fiction.  She thought it was like being able to major in eating chocolate (a girl after my own heart).

Read this book.  Prepare to be delighted.