Wednesday, July 1, 2009

The Laws of Harmony



Rating: 4.5 out 5

This is the first of Ms. Hendricks' books that I have read and she most certainly has captured the voices of generational women. I read in her acknowledgments that she always fears that she will mess up when writing especially if it is about something she does not know well or at all.

I must say that she has nothing to fear about her choices in this book. She picked two very different locales and yet she is able to make you feel that she has lived in both of them all her life.
The contrast between the commune in Armonia, New Mexico and a small island village in Harmony, Washington is huge but she brings them both up close and allows you to feel like you are walking through them with Sunny Cooper or Soleil as only her mother calls her. Here is a young woman born and raised in a commune in New Mexico who never felt comfortable with the experience. She leaves the commune to attend the University of New Mexico where she finds friends and love. But life is not simple and as life turns upside, Sunny realizes she not only has to leave her past life but her present as well. She overcomes her fear of flying this once, and gets on a plane for the farthest point northwest of Albuquerque, which ends up being the San Miguel Islands. It is there that we learn "The Laws of Harmony" and Sunny is able to come some resolve with her past and present.
A very satisfying read. A good life lesson for younger women, in that we don't also control what comes into our life but we most certainly can decide and determine what stays in our life.

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