Garden Spells

One of the novel’s first introductions to Claire describes how she felt, as a child newly arrived in Bascom, to be identified as part of the Waverley family; her response is nearly euphoric. The narrator goes on to say, “[F]rom that day on she would follow her grandmother out into the garden very morning, studying her, wanting to be like her, wanting to do all the things a true Waverley did to prove that, even though she wasn’t born here, she was a Waverley too” (9). Claire’s longing to be identified as part of this family introduces the theme of how a place can shape a person’s identity and the ways the expectations of a place can be confining, supportive, or liberating.

Claire’s personal example of imitating her grandmother shows how the land they live on contributes to the identity of the Waverleys, whose reputation in Bascom has been established around their apple tree’s power and the gifts that Waverley women seem to inherit. Being a Waverley outside of Bascom has no meaning without the town legend that Waverleys possess special gifts. This identity is rooted not just around the apple tree but also in the garden; as Claire notes, “Generations of Waverleys had tended this garden.