Isabel's Daughter

by Judi Hendricks

From the author of Bread Alone comes an intimate tale of a woman -- given up at birth -- piecing together her mother's identity

After a childhood spent in an institution and a series of foster homes, Avery James has trained herself not to wonder about the mother who gave her up. But her safe, predictable life changes one night at a party in the home of a wealthy Santa Fe art dealer when she stumbles upon the portrait of a woman who is the mirror image of herself.

Avery has found her mother, Isabel Colinas, an artist who died eight years earlier in a tragic accident. Slowly but inevitably, she is compelled to discover all she can about the woman. Searching for Isabel -- in her work, in the stories of friends, rivals, and lovers, in Isabel's own journal, and in what's left of Querencia, the old miner's cabin that was her haven -- Avery is drawn into complex relationships with the people who knew her mother. And the unexpected reappearance of Will Cameron, the boy Avery loved in high school, further complicates matters. As she draws together the threads of her mother's artistic heritage, her grandmother's skills as a curandera, or healer, and her own talent for cooking, Avery learns that, while discovering Isabel provides a certain resolution in her life, it's discovering herself that brings lasting happiness.

Beautifully observed and insightful, with Isabel's Daughter Judith Ryan Hendricks delivers a moving portrait of familial love -- a bond that transcends time and place.

Genres: Fiction, Book Club, Contemporary, Mystery, Chick Lit, Adult Fiction, Thriller

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Judith Ryan Hendricks was born in San Jose, California, when Silicon Valley was the Santa Clara Valley, better known for orchards than for computer chips.
Armed with a degree in journalism, she worked as a journalist, copywriter, computer instructor, travel agent, waitress and baker before turning to fiction writing. Her experiences at the McGraw Street Bakery in Seattle led to her first novel, Bread Alone and the sequel, The Baker’s Apprentice. The third book in the series, Baker’s Blues, will be published in August 2015.
A life-long infatuation with the Southwest provided inspiration for Isabel’s Daughter and her fourth book, The Laws of Harmony. Hendricks’ fiction has been translated into 12 languages and distributed in more than 16 countries worldwide.
Her nonfiction has appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle and Tiny Lights, A Journal of Personal Essay, Grand Gourmet in Italy and The London Sunday Express. Her short fiction has appeared in Woman’s Weekly in Britain and AMERICAN GIRLS ON THE TOWN, an anthology, in the U.S. and U.K.
She lives in New Mexico with husband Geoff and dog Blue.

Reviews

[Relyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was actually a reread for me. I don't know when I first read it or how I missed recording it here on GoodReads. Bummer. I love revisiting my years-old reviews after a reread.



Well just figured out the answer to that. I remember buying it brand new in the bookstore. That's memorable because I very rarely do that - too frugal. This book was published in 2003, which was before my GoodReads days. Anyway...

As I reflected on the new year, I noticed that I've been reading more and more online and magazines, and I wanted to spend 2017 getting back to books. To make sure I started off "right", I have been rereading old favorites. Honestly, I knew I really liked this book, but I had forgotten in the intervening years since my last reread just how much I enjoyed this book. It's got everything I love:
- a strong, spunky main character - No milktoast ladies for me, please.
- no weird character names - I know it's probably odd that it's important to me.
- a strong plot that doesn't contain too many rabbit trails
- a great sense of place & strong domestic descriptions
- characters I love that feel like friends, even the secondary and tertiary characters need to be well-developed, please. No paper dolls for me.
- good wordsmithing - Please, oh please, be able to write!
- magic realism, but not too much
- a great love story without uncomfortable sex descriptions
- a strong ending - Not to be confused with a happy ending, which I do love. A strong ending means the story ends well and doesn't just limp along to a half-hearted conclusion as though the author ran out of steam.

This book has it all. Oh, I do love it!

[J Kropa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't usually like books about teenagers, but I found myself so captivated by this book that I read right through these years and found myself captivated. The author just drew me in, and I found it a hard book to put down. I liked the description of this area of the country, and discussions about where fabric art fits into the general scheme of the art world. I worried it could have been a depressing book about losses, but instead found it a book about surviving losses, even surviving the knowledge that the main character might be her own worst enemy, knows it, struggles with it, and only wins sometimes--with the tantalizing promise that she might yet dare to come to experience love.

[Kelsey Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

After I read this book I wanted to move to Santa Fe, wear lots of turquoise jewelry, unearth my natural talent in painting watercolors, and only cook authentic Latin American dishes for the rest of my life. In reality, I hate hot climates and the poisonous creatures that inhabit them. But Hendricks made me forget all of that in an instant, and I thank you for that Miss Judith.

[Kelly Van Donk · Rating 3 out of 5]

The whole story was magical....the ending, not so much. Wanted it to go on, but all of a sudden it was just "the end" it felt rushed

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a facinating story but frustrating to me to some extent. Avery is her own worse enemy - always moving on rather than embracing closeness with others. It is a great book for a foody who is also interested in human emotions, every scene is sprinkled with great references to southwest cuisine and the herbs and spices of the American desert. I felt the author did a good job embroidering the story with complexity and contraditions as Avery tries to find out more about her illusive late mother. I enjoyed it be did not feel as connected as I wanted to be but maybe that is also intentional as the author seems to imply she is still holding back a part of the main character. Great discussion book.

[K. East · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've now read three books by this author. While I enjoy her characters and their development throughout each novel,each book ends not with a bang but a whimper. The characters seem very realistic as they meander through the trials in their lives, but they never really seem to arrive. Perhaps the books feel too much like real life, to me, and not enough like focused fiction. I'm not really sure what point, if any, the author had in mind to show when she started these novels. They feel more like character studies for women she met and grew to like and followed for a while in a journal.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe even 4.5 stars!

[Debby Hammer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colorful characters all woven together like a tapestry. You just want them to lead productive lives.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exceptionally engaging second novel by Judith Hendricks! I think we have a GREAT new up and coming authoress. I was lost in this story from beginning to end.

From back cover:

"The first time I saw my mother was the night she died. The second time was at a party in Santa Fe.

After a childhood spent in an institution and a series of foster homes, Avery James has trained herself not to wonder about the mother who gave her up. But her safe, predictable life changes one night when she stumbles upon the portrait of a woman who is the mirror image of herself.

Slowly but inevitably, Avery is compelled to discover all she can about her mother, Isabel. Avery is drawn into complex relationships with the people who knew her mother. As she weaves together the threads of her mother's artistic heritage and her grandmother's skills as a healer, Avery learns that while discovering Isabel provides a certain resolution into her life, it's discovering herself that brings lasting happiness."

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Avery is a determined, sometimes outspoken, and intelligent young woman. We first meet her when she is in her mid-twenties, working for a catering company. Out of the blue, she sees a portrait which can only be of her mother... whom she never met.

This starts Avery on a journey into the past, where she was brought up in a children's home before running away at thirteen. As she thinks about people in the past, and learns more about her mother and her various friends, she is gradually able to accept herself and see how her future might pan out.

The style is racy, moving to different time-frames, though written primarily in the present tense. I found it surprisingly gripping, after a few chapters, and read the bulk of it in one sitting. Avery is a wonderful and believable creation, and while there are one or two coincidences that slightly stretched my credulity, they somehow don't matter in context.

Four and a half stars, really. Were it not for a little more bad language than I'm comfortable with I'd have given this five. Definitely recommended.

[Les · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed on my blog in 2006.

Actual Rating: 4.5/5

What an enjoyable book. I was completely engrossed and grew anxious to get back to my reading when busy with other things. It’s been a long time since I’ve been so taken by a novel and I savored Hendricks’ lovely, descriptive prose. I found it a bit reminiscent of Elizabeth Berg’s detailed narratives.

I read Hendricks’ debut novel, Bread Alone, several years ago and while I enjoyed that light (read: fluff) story, I believe Isabel’s Daughter has more depth, both in plot and character development. I took pleasure in reading both about the location (Santa Fe) and the culinary details.

I discovered this lovely quote at the front of the book (page after the dedication page):

Your absence has gone through me
Like thread through a needle.
Everything I do is stitched
With its color.
W.S. Merwin

I highly recommend this gem of a book and plan to read more by the author. I’m anxious for the paperback edition of The Baker’s Apprentice to hit the shelves. Maybe this time I’ll get lucky with a sequel!

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Judi Hendricks creates characters who crackle with life. I loved her previous book Bread Alone, and hoped this one would be as good.

Avery James is an orphan who was abandoned at a state run orphanage days before Christmas. All of her life she has struggled to fit in, and to keep herself from caring about anyone. Avery leaves Colorado and finds solace with some unusual women and eventually finds out that she is Isabel's daughter.

Hendricks paints vivid scenes of Santa Fe and the New Mexico landscape, and art world. Her characters are interesting and complex and the story is solid.

Enjoyable read.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

"your absence has gone through me like a thread through a needle. Everything I do is stitched with its color"-w.s.merwin and the opening line of the book- "the first time I saw my mother was the night she died. The second time was a party in Santa Fe" --Together ,these two quotes tell the story. It grabbed me and kept me interested. That is all that you can ask of a book.

[Karen Benson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book from start to finish, although I had a different wish for the end. I loved Bread Alone and Isabel's Daughter didn't let me down. I really look forward to more books by this author.

[Mary-Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great character development...the beginning was slow but the story picks up pace and is really good.
I enjoyed "Bread Alone" as well....hopefuly the author will change the romantic relationships in the next novel.

[Janice]

set in New Mexico, my second favorite place in all the world ... I posted an entry on my book blog
http://blogdelivre.blogspot.com

next I bought another of her books, Laws of Harmony

[Denise · Rating 1 out of 5]

I stopped reading this book after around 200 pages. I tried and tried to get into it and like it, but it was just not happening. Reading it was becoming a chore, so I'm done.

[Vikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Avery James spent her life in an orphanage. She takes off on her own at 14-finds wonderful Cassie. She looks for her mother. Finds out she is an artist. Loved book. Loved author

[Becky Giovagnoni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good writing, but the plot is moderately depressing. And there is a distinct lack of closure in one major storyline which left me wishing for a more definitive ending.

[Elizabeth Wheeler · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't finish the book. The story line did not keep my interest.

[Sandy Thor · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Dwelled a lot on trials and tribulations. Other things seemed to happen out of the blue. Weird vibes between Avery and Paul.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Such a disappointment after The Laws of Harmony. I am now a little afraid to read Bread Alone. She needed a better editor for this one.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great novel by Judi Hendricks, one that I once again, thoroughly-enjoyed, and would highly recommend to others! This book focused on Avery James, a young woman, who is in the midst of trying to find out more about her deceased mother, Isabel Colinas. Although she had never met her, throughout the novel, Avery was able to meet with a variety of individuals that gave her a close insight into the type of woman that her mother was, which provided Avery with a clear picture of her mother's life before and after she was born. The author then delved into Avery's life before she had discovered who her mother was, by taking us through a variety of scenes in which Avery became ingrained within, such as her life with Cassie and Will Cameron in Florales, to her work as a server with Dos Hombres, and her friendship with Rita in Santa Fe. As I continued to read, I found out more about the Spanish people of New Mexico, and the type of customs that took place within their culture throughout various seasons of the year. I loved how Avery took her life into her own hands, becoming her own woman without the guidance of any relatives, although Cassie did seem to take on a motherly-role throughout their time together. The individuals that Avery met along the way helped to shape her as an individual, and bring her closer to discovering who her mother was, despite never having had the chance to meet her. I love how Judi Hendricks' novels always leave me wanting more, and because of that, I would definitely recommend this novel to anyone wanting to read about intrigue, mystery, romance, and cultural appreciation, all wrapped up into a beautifully-written legacy.

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review is for myself, more so than any prospective readers:
I liked this book primarily for its taking place in New Mexico, which I now hold vivid imagery of and which occupies a little space in my heart after living there during the summer of 2018. Liam and I lived for a month with fellow students at the Greater World Earthship community in Taos, drank Micheladas with Phil and the crew after winning a group assignment, shared dinner with the off grid community at Lama Foundation, climbed Wheeler Peak, spent a day at Lake Abiquiu (where characters visit in the book), went to a punk show in Arroyo Seco, and a music festival “downtown” (a dusty street corner with a small strip of shops), spent days down by the Rio Grande in the natural hot springs, and wandered and ate lunch on Canyon Road the day we visited Santa Fe. The author’s acknowledgments thank “the people of New Mexico for holding the line against twenty-first century blandness and homogenized culture” and I now understand this, even if only in a small way.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading "Isabel's Daughter" although I did feel like it ended very abruptly.
The story really drew me in, and I liked the device of seeing the various "era's" of Avery's life.
I did not find Avery to be the most likable character, however.
She is very closed off (understandably so) and hard for people to get close to.
I especially loved the part of the book where she is living with Cassie, the curandera,
There were a lot of Mexican/Spanish names & terms that were never explained and it would have been nice for those of us NOT from the SW if she had said this is what it is.
I think we all know what enchiladas are, but there were many that were fairly obscure to the average reader.

I had a real issue/dislike of the ending, it felt very abrupt, and didn't make much sense to me.
She had a good opportunity for safety and instead chose danger.

Overall I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to others.

[Kevin Kern · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really disliked 2 things about this book, the cover and the fact it ended. Judi Hendricks wrote it long enough ago, I don't think there is a sequel in the works. That makes me sad, because I loved the characters.
The cover is so much like her Bread Alone series of books, that I left this in my TBR shelf for much too long. If I was a cover designer or artist, I would have made a gradual gray tone, with some yellow on the edges and a columbine, or whole plant of them in the center. The cover is nice, if you aren't familiar with her other series.
As for the story, Avery is a wonderful protagonist; young, abandoned, bullied and afraid. She doesn't do well in foster care, so ends up back in the institution, where she and the Hispanic cook bond, over the creating of food, which becomes a major theme of the book.
Judi Hendricks, it is not too late to consider a sequel and I know you write beautiful ones. Thank you for this book!

[Elena Woontner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read some more reviews of people who feel like I do about the book. I had read Bread Alone and loved it, but I let this one slide. The title does not sound particularly inspiring until you have read the entire novel. It was a big surprise - not only a beautiful, unusual story, almost visual and tactile, but also because it made me learn a lot about New Mexico, its social and cultural milieu, its harsh nature and weather, and how strong is its Native American and Hispanic heritage.
The characters are realistic - I loved Cassie in particular - and the arc of their experience is beautifully crafted. Many secrets remain unrevealed, and yet this does neither hurt the narrative nor the reader´s expectations. I would recommend this book to those who like characters slowly finding themselves and their place in their reality.

[Jodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Avery James was abandoned as a young child so grew up in an institution and foster homes.  As soon as she was able, she ran away to discover herself.  Unexpectedly, she finds a painting of her deceased mother Isabel and sets out to find more about her from her former coworkers and fiancee. Avery gains knowledge of her mother's artistic heritage and how her work was viewed by others.  She also learns of her grandmother's healing skills and how she inherited some of these qualities. She slowly learns to love and trust others while living with an older woman with a kind heart who is also a healer. She cycles through many difficult jobs and many living situations, ultimately finding her purpose.  The characters are eccentric and very well described as are the relationships between them.

[Maureen Neylon · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. This one has been sitting in my bookshelf for a long time. So glad I finally got around to reading it. I knew nothing about Santa Fe - it’s now on my “to visit” list. The storyline of Avery trying to connect to her mother’s world was intriguing considering she had never met her. I kept wondering if she would have been as fascinated if she had been raised in a family setting, or if they search for maternal connection is just that strong. Interesting sub stories about the native Americans, occult, art world, etc. Really liked it.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It wasn’t terribly exciting, more like life. Avery James was abandoned in an orphanage basement at birth in CO. She has two different colored eyes and no one likes her. She finally runs away at 13 years old and ends up in New Mexico. I enjoyed the side characters and her journey to learn about her mother. This book actually made me want to explore New Mexico.
The only part of this book that I didn’t understand was Avery’s interest in Paul.
This book had some language, including the F word, some sex, but not descriptive.