Harmony

Anne Mahroum has it all. She's a successful artist who becomes increasingly more successful as the novel Harmony progresses. She has a handsome, wealthy husband, Elie, whose family fortune allows him to dabble in coins. She's beautiful with a flirtatious nature. She has a healthy baby, Evan. So what could author Joanna Goodman do with such a wonderful character? Well, Anne has a secret. Baby Evan was born with severely clubbed feet. And while Anne knows in her mind that it could be so much worse (like cancer or a heart defect), she is embarrassed that her son is not perfect. Anne feels as if she's failed, that she's a bad mother. Somehow, it's all her fault and maybe her mother's fault for running away from her father. And Evan's arrival has caused her to want to reconnect with her father, a man she has neither seen nor heard from in more than thirty years. Her mother drops hints at a horrible, terrible secret left behind, but cannot bring herself to face Anne and the questions she's beginning to pose. Anne feels that if she can reach out to her father, somehow all the failed feelings she is having will dissipate. Meeting her father will also erase the feelings that her marriage is on the rocks and the need to have an affair will all be behind her. Her mother's secret is much more shocking than Anne's. When Anne learns to true details of why her mother ran away and why she is acting so strange now, Anne begins to look at her life, Elie, Evan, and her mother through different eyes. Harmony is eloquently written and a beautiful story. The point of view, third person present tense, is jarring at first, but I was easily captivated by page ten. Harmony is also a story about guilt, betrayal, and reaching the point where a person is about to embark upon stupid journeys--there are multiple sub-plots with the theme of journeys--that will not change lives nor ease consciousness. Armchair Interviews says: A 5-star work of outstanding fiction about families.