The Laws of Harmony by Judith R. Hendricks

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 easy 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.