Her Book Self

This is another book that's been on my radar for quite some time, but it was a friend's blog post, with a charming quote from this book that most made me want to read it.

Sarah Addison Allen's The Sugar Queen might just be the definition of a comfort read. I picked this book up after multiple friends raved about it, and it turned out to be even more delightful than I expected.

The story follows twenty-eight year old Josey Cirrini who has always lived in the shadow of her high-society mother. Josey's escape from the pressures of others' expectations lies in a secret compartment in her closet filled with forbidden sweets and romance novels. Josey's paradise is disturbed one day when she finds Della Lee Baker, a local free-spirited woman, camped out in the closet hiding from an abusive boyfriend. With Della's help, Josey learns to stand up for herself and breaks out of the image that her mother has imposed on her. Josey learns to see herself as strong, beautiful woman - a lesson that will likely echo in the hearts of most female readers.

I loved the way the characters in this story were interwoven and the magical realism that tied the various subplots together was wonderfully done. The Sugar Queen is a novel that will leave readers with a smile and a sigh - a warm and intriguing love story that is as sweet as its charming title.

With Josey's secret closet filled with sweets and romance novels, I started thinking about my own comforts.  I could definitely relate to Josey turning to books as a means of escape - for me, it's more likely to be fantasy novels than romances - but if you had a secret comfort closet, with what would you stock it?