England - 1184: Anna knows hardship ever since she was taken as a child from her homeland. She also knows hunger since she was cast out with 17 years because her vitiligo was mistaken for leprosy. She has known hunger for over a decade when she struggles to survive in exile - always with the fear of being found again. A single act of kindness towards a stranger and a táo changes everything though. Time doesn't touch her anymore. Fire and weapons can't hurt her anymore. So, she spends the next 800 years to put some good into a world that is hellbent on hating her, on hating women, on destroying itself. While trying to do so, she does not only learn the difference between surviving and living but also what it means to love and how love can heal. There's only one constant in all those years for her: the beautiful stranger, the shape-shifting god, who gave her the táo.


Peaches & Honey (Book One in a Duology) is a slow-burn romance in a historical fiction setting that borderlines on magical realism as includes known historical events and figures (e.g., the colonisation of the US, the 1st World War and the 2nd World War, but also Joan d'Arc), a shape-shifting god who can travel between points in an instant, other immortals and Anna - the latest immortal. The historical settings range from the 12th century to the 20th century and Anna is always actively involved in them, not merely a witness to them, which makes everything tangible for the reader. From hunger and famine, plagues like the Black Death, to the cruelty of men and the horrors that we unleash on ourselves - she lives through all of it and tries to offer help to whoever needs it. She is very much the embodiment of 'saves everyone but herself' for the majority of the book.

 

What truly wrecked me is the grief that Anna experienced in the 800 years because the price of immortality is to be alone. Anna has to start anew every few years - either to avoid suspicion by neighbours as she doesn't age or because someone noticed her vitiligo which is always mistaken as a sickness. Of course, she finds love as well but even the love comes with grief because they will be ghosts of her past within years. It leads to the point where she is utterly depressed because it takes strength to keep your heart intact if you are an immortal. The novel features a lot of trauma and healing (and what it takes to heal).

 

The romance is a slow-burn that builds up over the 800 years but the majority happens within the last 30% of the novel. So, don't expect a fast romance that happens within the first pages. Each chapter has a diary-like header from the shapeshifting god, which shows his own change in feelings for Anna. I consider it as a good indicator of the romance development. I think you will love Khiran if you love a protective male love interest (and the hints for Book 2 on the author's Instagram ... oh yes, he's going to be even more protective) whose love language is acts of service! In terms of spice 🌶️: 1/5 chillies because it's very much in the vein of 'fade to black' and not something extensive like SJM & Co.

 

It is a very slow-paced novel (especially the first chapters when there's no large jump between decades as Anna learns how to heal, how to read and write, ...) and so utterly beautifully written. The prose is very poetic and lyrical.

 

The book wrecked me in the best possible way and I think it will hunt me for the upcoming days - months (maybe even years after reading Book 2, which will be published later this year). It's painfully beautiful in the best possible way and is everything I ever wanted from a novel with immortal characters because it includes the pain, grief and trauma that comes with immortality. There's a price for it and the author included it, which is different from what's normally the case with immortal characters.