The Girl who Chased the Moon

On the Inner Flap

In her latest enchanting novel, New York Times bestselling author Sarah Addison Allen invites you to a quirky little Southern town with more magic than a full Carolina moon. Here two very different women discover how to find their place in the world—no matter how out of place they feel.

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 the 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 sugar . . . 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.

My Thoughts

I chose to read this book as part of the challenge put on by Quirky Girls Read. I had never heard of Allen before, but since her first novel was published in 2007, right about when my reading hiatus began, it would make sense. 

The story begins with young Emily moving to Mullaby, her late mother's hometown. She meets her grandfather for the first time, and is quickly introduced to most of the town's main characters: all of whom have their own heartfelt stories, and from getting to know these characters, she finds out more about her mother. There is Win, whose uncle and Emily's mother shared a passionate romance, albeit rife with controversy and scandal -- something Win's father refuses to let him repeat. This secret, that Emily's mother kept from her, is known to all of Mullaby and the reason for her abrupt move. And, there is Julia, in my opinion the main character of the novel, who used to be the social outcast when Emily's mother ruled the school, is the owner of the local barbecue restaurant, but her true passion is baking, which she does for many reasons, the most lovely of which you find out towards the end of the novel. 

This town is enchanted. It's full of magical occurrences and people, however nothing seems out of place or unrealistic whilst reading the novel. Everything just works, and I believe Allen achieves this through amazing character development. She meticulously peels away the layers of her characters as the novel goes on and before you know it you feel like you truly know and understand them. 

I really didn't want this one to end. Mullaby felt like a real life town with real life people, there are stories from the past to tell, the snippets we're fortunate enough to glimpse into while reading, and there's the continuation of many more stories to come. Allen has created a great setting to work with and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if this setting turned into a TV series.

I will definitely be picking up Sarah Addison Allen's other books to read!

Cake Pairing

Since the objective of this post was the challenge set forth by Quirky Girls Read was to bake one of Julia's cakes as part of the review, I have not paired this with a wine or a tea. I'm not much of a baker, as precise measurements bore/scare me. I prefer to cook and never manage to cook the exact same thing more than once as I'm not one to follow recipes, rather I use basic concepts to create my own magic in the kitchen. However, I stepped up to the challenge and decided to bake a hummingbird cake (also something I'd never tried before) shared on Sarah Addison Allen's website. 

To save myself from the caloric indulgence of the entire beautiful three layered cake, I decided to make frosted hummingbird muffins and take them to work with me and share the love :) Accountants are always on the lookout for sweet treats during tax season! The recipe yielded 24 muffins (1/3 cup size), and since I likely wouldn't need as much frosting without the layers, I halved the frosting quantity. I checked the muffins after 20 minutes, and they needed another 5-10 minutes, so call it 25-30 minutes in the oven.

I mixed up the batch of frosting and put it in a zip-lock baggie so I could frost the muffins at work easily by just snipping off a corner. Strictly for "quality control" purposes, I tried one muffin with the frosting on it on Sunday. Yum!

My offering to the work "treat corner" yesterday.
(Unfortunately, this was the best I could get with limited time, my
phone's camera and poor lighting. Auto focus would have been handy!)