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Title details for The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen - Available

The Sugar Queen

by Sarah Addison Allen
Karen White
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
In this irresistible follow-up to her New York Times bestselling debut, Garden Spells, author Sarah Addison Allen tells the tale of a young woman whose family secrets—and secret passions—are about to change her life forever.

Twenty-seven-year-old Josey Cirrini is sure of three things: winter in her North Carolina hometown is her favorite season, she’s a sorry excuse for a Southern belle, and sweets are best eaten in the privacy of her hidden closet. For while Josey has settled into an uneventful life in her mother’s house, her one consolation is the stockpile of sugary treats and paperback romances she escapes to each night…. Until she finds it harboring none other than local waitress Della Lee Baker, a tough-talking, tenderhearted woman who is one part nemesis—and two parts fairy godmother…
Fleeing a life of bad luck and big mistakes, Della Lee has decided Josey’s clandestine closet is the safest place to crash. In return she’s going to change Josey’s life—because, clearly, it is not the closet of a happy woman. With Della Lee’s tough love, Josey is soon forgoing pecan rolls and caramels, tapping into her startlingly keen feminine instincts, and finding her narrow existence quickly expanding.
Before long, Josey bonds with Chloe Finley, a young woman who makes the best sandwiches in town, is hounded by books that inexplicably appear whenever she needs them, and—most amazing of all—has a close connection to Josey’s longtime crush.
As little by little Josey dares to step outside herself, she discovers a world where the color red has astonishing power, passion can make eggs fry in their cartons, and romance can blossom at any time—even for her. It seems that Della Lee’s work is done, and it’s time for her to move on. But the truth about where she’s going, why she showed up in the first place—and what Chloe has to do with it all—is about to add one more unexpected chapter to Josey’s fast-changing life.
Brimming with warmth, wit, and a sprinkling of magic, here is a spellbinding tale of friendship, love—and the enchanting possibilities of every new day.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    May 20, 2008

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781415954355
      • File size: 231608 KB
      • Duration: 08:02:30

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 5, 2008
      Allen’s second bewitching offering (after Garden Spells
      ) is a candy jar of magical characters and mystical adventures set in an ordinary North Carolina town. At 27, Josey Cirrini is “plain and just this side of plump” and trying to make up for her legendary childhood temper tantrums by caring for her aging, widowed mother Margaret. Her closet features neatly stacked junk food packages and romance novels, and her life chugs along. But as the book opens, Della Lee Baker, waitress at the local greasy spoon, shows up in Josey’s closet, having propped a ladder against the house and climbed silently in overnight. She’s hiding from someone or something, and has no intention of leaving anytime soon. Instead, the very direct Della Lee sends Josey on a series and missions and misadventures that encourage our low self-esteem heroine to step outside her box and away from her snack-filled closet. As in Allen’s previous work, there’s an element of the supernatural (self-help books that literally follow one around; tears that sprout mysterious tropical flowers), and again it works. Words such as sweet
      , charming
      and delightful
      are weak accolades for such a pleasurable book.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Ariadne Meyers uses just the right touches of various Southern accents to suggest the North Carolina setting of this novel. At first, Meyers's youthful-sounding voice seems odd for the portrayal of 27-year-old Josey. But as the story progresses, it becomes the perfect choice to depict a young woman who is learning to individuate from her cruel, manipulative mother. Meyers also provides a chilling rendition of the mother. As Josey decides to live her dream, she is accompanied by two spirited female characters who are also trying to overcome their limiting pasts. Meyers's youthful timbre fits particularly well with the elements of magical realism that add to the story and lighten its tone. S.W. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      September 1, 2008
      Allen follows her New York Times best-selling debut, Garden Spells, with this story of love, redemption, and choosing happiness. Narrator Karen White (Luncheon of the Boating Party) gets the Southern idiosyncrasies and gentility down pat, and while she effectively creates unique male characters, she has a greater range of personality from which to choose with the quirky female protagonists. This work of magical realism will keep listeners hungry for more. [Also available from Random House Audio as a retail ed. abridged CD (ISBN LJ 5/1/08.Ed.]Jodi L. Israel, MLS, Salt Lake City

      Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      July 28, 2008
      Ariadne Meyers's warm and whimsical performance invigorates a colorful cast of characters. Since most of them come from the same small North Carolina town, nearly all carry Southern accents, yet Meyers makes each voice uniqueand believable: the elderly yet forceful and intimidating tone of imperious Margaret; the initially soft, timid voice of Josey, which grows stronger and more confident as the book goes on; the sassy, brassy twang of feisty Della Lee; the lazy, sexy drawl of charming-but-dangerous Julian. The abridgement is seamless. Meyers' rich, nuanced performance adds an extra dimension and will keep listeners captivated from beginning to end. A Bantam hardcover (Reviews, May 5).

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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