The Sugar Queen

My husband knows when I’m reading a book that has touched me in some way. Usually he will hear my say “ohhhh” or sigh really loud and realizes that what I’m reading must be something very special. I did this a lot with The Sugar Queen.

Written by Sarah Addison Allen, The Sugar Queen is the “sweet as honey” story of Josey Cirrini, a woman in her late twenties who describes herself as a pale, plain and slightly plump woman. She lives in a big Victorian house with her aging mother Margaret and a superstitious housekeeper Helena in the North Carolina town where she grew up. Known by everyone one in town as the daughter of the late great Marco Cirrini, Josey also had a reputation of being an unruly child. She also harbors two secrets – a crush on Adam, a handsome extreme skier turned mailman and a stash of candy hidden in the back of her closet. She lives a Rapunzel-like existence, mostly taking care of her mother, who due to her own relationship with Josey’s father, harbors bad feelings against her daughter.

One day her world is turned upside-down when she opens her closet for a sugary treat and is surprised to find Della Lee Baker inside. Della Lee is a local waitress, in her late thirties and is a rough and tumble kind of gal who shows up in the closet claiming she needs a place to hide. Josey and Della Lee are two unlikely friends, but quickly realize that they have one thing in common – they are both unhappy.

“Della Lee, you’re living in my closet, you’re blackmailing me over candy, and you are currently wearing sixteen articles of clothing. It’s amazing to me that you think I have problems.”

With encouragement from Della Lee, Josey soon finds herself branching out of the house, befriending Chloe, who just broke up with her boyfriend and has another quirky trait – books appear to her when she most needs them. Whether next to her on the couch, in the middle of the hallway or even at work, books appear everywhere (with the exception of the bathroom, since books are naturally leery around water).

Sounds like a strange little story, doesn’t it? As it turns out, The Sugar Queen is full of quirky characters and even some magical happenings, but in the end turns out to be a real heart-warming story. With plenty of descriptive language, it’s easy to get sucked into this book:

She stuck her head out and took a deep breath. If she could eat the cold air, she would. She thought cold snaps were like cookies, like gingersnaps. In her mind they were made with white chocolate chunks and had a cool, brittle vanilla frosting. They melted like snow in her mouth, turning creamy and warm.

I truly loved this whimsical book.

In the back of The Sugar Queen, there is a section where Random House Reader’s Circle asks the author “why do you think your books have struck such a cord with readers? ” Sarah Addison Allen replies “maybe because the books explore the magic of the ordinary. Everyday things are magical, we just take them for granted. Apples. Candy. A good haircut. Books. Community. Family. Friends. A small gift. A letter in the mail. Falling in love.”

Just be careful when you read this book, you may get a cavity after devouring this sugary sweet story. 🙂

For more information about The Sugar Queen and the author’s other book Garden Spells (which I haven’t read yet but will be soon) or her newest book to be published early next year, check out her website here!