Sunny Cooper grew up on a commune in northern New Mexico, and her childhood memories aren't exactly happy ones. Her parents split up, her little sister died in a tragic accident, and there was very little she could call her own. Those experiences have shaped her into a self-protective woman who doesn't attach herself to much, materially or emotionally. When her boyfriend disappears and she begins to learn just how much she didn't know about him, she realizes it might be time to give herself a fresh start - she sells everything, gets on a plane, and ends up on San Miguel Island off the coast of Washington state. She finds herself in the town of Harmony, whose name echoes that of Armonía, the commune, but otherwise is as different as it could be. If you ever went off on your own with the intent of starting fresh somewhere else, Harmony is the kind of place you'd like to land. It's the proverbial small town with a big heart (except for Sarah Lakes, Sunny's first landlady), and it's hard to keep your walls up against some of the people who call it home. Eventually, Sunny comes to accept a community that's accepted her - and the baby that she's stunned to discover she's expecting. Sunny's a great character, intimacy issues and all, and Judith Ryan Hendricks effectively shows how both her history and her present shape who she is. Sunny is also shaped by her relationship with food - preparing it, savoring it, and bonding with people over it. The best times in her complicated relationship with her mother are the ones they've spent in kitchens together. I enjoy food writing, and Hendricks effectively incorporates it into Sunny's story. But I think I wanted more story here. The Laws of Harmony does include many of the elements I like in a novel - an emphasis on relationships, setting as character, a source of mystery and suspense - but I felt that Hendricks made a choice to leave some things at loose ends. On the one hand, I think that makes the book more effective and realistic - how often do things get neatly resolved in our own lives, after all? - but on the other, I think I would have been more satisfied with it if it had been a little neater, and if some of the other characters besides Sunny had been filled in a little bit more.This is the first of Judith Ryan Hendricks' books that I've read. I'd recommend it to readers who like character-based fiction, and I liked it enough that I would read other novels of here - but I really wanted to love it, and I'm left feeling a bit wistful over the fact that I didn't. It's been a while since I read a book where I truly liked and cared about the characters. So many seem like flat, watery, black and white photographs. But this terrific author was able to create Sunny, who is anything but a plain picture. Her problems are real, her life is believable, and her choices are understandable.While I was propelled to read because of the story, I was enchanted to read because of the writing. Judith Ryan Hendricks is a wonder, knowing just when to throw in a descriptive phrase to show you an emotion or a setting. Two quotes from the book as examples: "His laugh sounds like it hasn't been used in a while" and "The word sits there between us like the last cookie on a plate."I usually prefer my books to end with a certainty, a finality. This one didn't, but that was okay. The way the book ends matches the personality of Sunny. Open, realistic, and looking forward. It definitely leaves room for a sequel, which I hope is written soon so that I can continue the journey with Sunny and her friends and family.
What do You think about Laws Of Harmony (2009)?
another from a favorite author - Judith Hendricks - in my favorite locale, New Mexico
—bjeet
Not read it yet but she can write a good story
—xjessiegirlx
