Book Review – The Girl In The Peach Tree by Michelle Oucharek-Deo
The Girl In The Peach Tree by Michelle Oucharek-Deo ♥♥♥♥ Retails for $12.99, here. Tea Pairing: Pure Leaf Black Tea with Peach.
Let’s face it. More and more often people are turning to their phones and tablets to pass the time on the Subway, their lunch breaks and during that burst of energy we all get right before it’s time for bed (I know you know what I’m talking about here!) But while a game of Candy Crush seems like a good way to ignore the hundreds of other people around you, what it doesn’t do is make you think or slow down time or inspire you to reflect on your life. And if I’m being honest, these are all things that everyone should be doing now more than ever.
So what then will inspire you to take a step back and evaluate where you’re at in your life? What will ask you if you’re truly happy and living a life that’s actually right for you? What will remind you that you are special and deserve everything you want in the world? This. Book.
The Girl In The Peach Tree is Michelle Oucharek-Deo’s first novel and you can tell–for two reasons. The first, is (unfortunately) because there are typos–yes, grammatical errors and words spelled incorrectly. Unless you’re an editor like me, chances are you won’t even notice them and they won’t take away from the story. There are only six after all (yes, I counted) and for this I blame the publishing company editors who neglected to proofread for one final time.
The second reason is because Oucharek-Deo poured her heart and soul into this novel. And because of that, it truly is beautiful. The story of Maya, a 25 year-old girl who realizes on a whim that she was not happy living her life the way it was and set out on a trip to change that, is captivating. It is a story of the pieces of a person’s life coming together through a puzzle of pain, love, travel, betrayal and friendship.
The way in which the story is written is what makes it so special. Oucarek-Deo has figured out a form of writing that can turn minutes into hours and show us the purest form of narrative. The story is full of occurrences of serendipity, which at first made the logistical side of me angry that the story was not relatable to real life. But as the pages went on the story showed me that what I had been thinking was wrong, and my life was more relatable to that of the main character than I thought.
This story has touched me in a way that could only nudge me in a positive direction. Life is a beautiful experience and it is more so when we remember to be grateful for all we are blessed with. The Girl In The Peach Tree reflects a similar style of writing to A Tree Grows In Brooklyn (my absolute favorite novel). As Oucharek-Deo continues her writing career I look forward to following along, and am hopeful that there will be a sequel to this book. x
Stay Classy! xx