FROM AMAZON: Sunny Cooper has been running since she was eighteen—from the New Mexican commune where she grew up . . . and from the haunting memory of the freak accident that took the life of her younger sister. Now, at thirty-two, Sunny voices radio spots in Albuquerque while struggling to hold on to a floundering relationship. But when a second tragic accident—and the devastating truths that come to light in its aftermath—turns her world upside down, Sunny runs again.

In the town of Harmony on San Miguel Island, she takes a new job, learns to ride a motorcycle, and makes some surprising new friends. But the past is never far behind. A startling discovery—along with an emotional and revelatory reunion with her estranged mother—is forcing Sunny to step out from the shadows of yesterday to embrace an uncertain future.

I liked the writing style but not the characters. The main character left me disappointed. I can't tell why or I'd give away part of the story, but I would be hard pressed to recommend this book. ( )

I have thoroughly enjoyed the other books I have read by Hendricks and once again she writes what I like to read. My sort of disappointment with the ending is simply because we have sort of left Laura there, with things about to happen. I want to find out what happens next but i need the author to fill in the blanks with at least another book. ( )

Sunny Cooper is a pessimist. It could be the results of an unhappy childhood spent growing up in a commune in New Mexico. Or maybe the memories of a tragic accident that took the life of her younger sister whatever the cause, her fiance describes her as having a melancholy streak a mile wide. She struggles with her life and her relationship, having no preparation for either in the commune. When a second tragic accident—and the devastating truths that come to light in its aftermath—turns her world upside down, Sunny runs.

With just the clothes on her back, and her ever present pessimism, she ends up in the town of Harmony on San Miguel Island, where she learns it is possible to trust people and let them help her. With a new job, new skills and new friends, she starts to build a new life, but her past life intrudes. There is soon a constant reminder and she reaches out to her estranged mother as she embraces an uncertain future.

The book is written in the first person, in the present, with 'flashbacks', a format that is not my favorite, in the skilled hands of Judith Hendricks it works. The past is brought forth in a series of memories, tied to present events, and as these memories are told, they explain Sunny's present day actions. The vivid descriptions of the heat and the dust and later the fog and rain and black dirt give a sense of realism and richness to the account. This was a pleasant and enjoyable read. A believable story that was east to follow.

I only had one problem, when I first read the description, I thought San Miguel Island was in the Caribbean, when I realized that the location was off the coast of Washington State I got totally confused since I lived there for 4 years and don't remember a San Miguel Island, so I Googled it. Yes there is no San Miguel Island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and there is a Harmony, WA but its about 225 miles from the San Juan Islands. There is however, a Lopez Island and Orcas Island. Just a little bit of trivia for any other OCD readers.

That being said, I enjoyed reading this book, and recommend it. ( )

Judith Ryan Hendricks gives us the tribulations and crankiness of Soleil (who goes by ‘Sunny’) in “The Laws of Harmony.” Even given the struggle of her childhood in a New Mexico commune, and all the resulting issues she has with her mother, we still find it hard to engage our emotions or hopes for her.

Sunny Cooper pushes people away from herself. Her large unresolved resentment of her mother Gwen precludes closeness with others, even the handsome, compelling Michael, who proposes to her. She balks and makes him wait for her to come around to the idea. But Michael’s duplicity, legal trouble, and disappearance generate not only the tension that pushes the narrative forward, but it pushes Sunny to move from Albuquerque to a remote island off the coast of Washington state
.
Here she meets the permanent (non-tourist) population, a mixed lot who try to offer help and support, which Sunny feels ambivalent toward, and doesn’t want to accept. Ms. Hendricks makes an attempt to wrap up the story’s threads and does so at some basic level, but again, I found my emotions only half-engaged.

“The Laws of Harmony” spends a fair amount of its capital in expansive descriptions of mundane tasks: food prep and cooking, showering, tidying up, or simply walking through a ferry terminal. Events and thought process quite central to the novel, however, have a glossed-over feeling at times. Chief among these: Sunny’s near-constant anger and anti-social behavior. This does soften near the end, but I don’t think it’s adequately founded in the story. I don’t see her motivation. Sunny’s evolution from being someone with a hard, isolated outlook into a person capable of accepting and giving human kindness, starts by novel’s end, but the ending has an abrupt, rather arbitrary feel. There are sections that amuse, and I did find myself laughing at some of the dialog, but overall, I felt I could spend my time on projects with a greater reward.

http://bassoprofundo1.blogspot.com/2011/06/laws-of-harmony-by-judith-ryan.html ( )