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18-year-old Ellis falls in love with Julia and on a lark, ends up on a commune in Northern California with her. But then he drowns, and pregnant Julia leaves the baby with Ellis’s family. Phil, the dad, is the essence of kindness. Sib, the mom, is very tense. Little sister Sally, 8, is very confused. The story presents like a Russian nesting doll with surprise overlaps that produce covert siblings, much of which doesn’t come to light until the end. Huneven writes effortlessly-- no fancy words. Such a direct transmission plunged into this intricate, nuanced tale with great satisfaction.
Currently, Hester’s lot is not a happy one and she wasn’t happy to begin with. A high-powered lawyer at 40, when she’s diagnosed with terminal cancer, she shucks it all and sets out from NYC to California to confront her long-estranged dad and get serious revenge. On this crazy cross country trip, she picks up hitch-hiking John, an eco-warrior of sorts, who documents depredated sites with a vintage camera. Calamities ensue but lots of money keeps the two of them rolling along. Yes, it’s certainly a downer (the word “bad” kept reverberating as a drumbeat in my head) but the author has a way of describing the details of the journey that feels spot on. All too much but worth it, despite the discomfort which reflects the reality of our current ecological nightmares.
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