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| Bantam |
Sarah Addison Allen
2010
The Summary
"Emily Benedict came to Mullaby, North Carolina, hoping to solve at least some of the riddles surrounding her mother's life. Such as, why did Dulcie Shelby leave her hometown so suddenly? And why did she vow never to return? But the moment Emily enters the house where her mother grew up and meets the grandfather she never knew - a reclusive, real-life gentle giant - she realizes that mysteries aren't solved in Mullaby, they're a way of life: Here are rooms where wallpaper changes to suit your mood. Unexplained lights skip across the yard at midnight. And a neighbor bakes hope in the form of cakes.
"Everyone in Mullaby adores Julia Winterson's cakes - which is a good thing, because Julia can't seem to stop baking them. She offers them to satisfy the town's sweet tooth but also in the hope of rekindling the love she fears might be lost forever. Flour, eggs, milk, and sure...baking is the only language the proud but vulnerable Julia has to communicate what is truly in her heart. But is it enough to call back to her those she's hurt in the past?
"Can a hummingbird cake really bring back a lost love? Is there really a ghost dancing in Emily's backyard? The answers are never what you expect. But in this town of lovable misfits, the unexpected fits right in."
The Good
I actually picked up The Girl Who Chased the Moon as an audiobook. This has been the first audiobook I've listened to since Hank the Cowdog was considered my favorite - back when we still had a cassette tape player in our car. Granted, I think I prefer reading a book to listening to one; however, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I do still like audiobooks.
Like both Garden Spells and The Sugar Queen, Allen's novel is filled with little unexpected joys, everyday magic that jumps out and surprises you. Like the wallpaper in Emily's bedroom, or Sawyer's "sweet sense," or the secrets of Mullaby's most illustrious family. And it's interesting to see this magical dynamic at work in Mullaby, to see how the town accepts and even celebrates its oddities.
I really liked Julia. Maybe more than any other character, even Emily, I liked Julia with her troubled adolescence and her steely resolve to leave Mullaby behind once she gets her father's business and her rocky relationship with Sawyer settled. She's essentially damaged by her past, by a number of bad years in her youth, but she's managed to heal and she's managed to reinvent herself and, more importantly, grow into the woman she wishes to be.
I'm not saying Julia isn't flawed, and I'm not saying she isn't damaged; rather, I admire her for overcoming a number of challenges in her life - and she still manages to have hope. That's why she continues to bake, why she continues to leave the window open when she's making her cakes: she has hope for a better future and reconnecting with someone she thought she'd lost forever.
Additionally, Rebecca Lowman, who narrated the novel, did a splendid job of distinguishing between characters and reviving the cadence of a small North Carolina town. She helped breathe life into the characters, playing upon the drawl and twang sometimes found in Appalachia, and she did a wonderful job of pacing the story, allowing it to unfold naturally.
The Bad
Despite my rekindled love of audiobooks, I've discovered that listening to a book just isn't enough for me. Audiobooks just don't hold my attention as well as a physical books - and, admittedly, I'm more easily distracted. I can't seem to immerse myself in the story as well as when I'm holding a book in my hands.
The Ugly
Adolescence is an ugly, ugly time.
For some, it's a passing phase; for others, it leaves lingering scars that can be forgiven if not forgotten.
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