When Matt discovers that Joanie had been having an affair before her accident, he is shocked. He vacillates between anger and sadness as he tries to deal with something he cannot discuss with his dying wife. According to Hemmings, such a plot twist made the narrative easier to complete. "The worst-case scenario comes true, and I just kind of went with it."

It also opened up the possibility that tragedy could be mixed with humor — as often happens in real life. "Funny things happen in unexpected places in real life, so writing comes easier to me if it has a humorous edge. At that point, the way Matt sees life is similar to my own. It's not that big of a stretch."

It also made it easier for Hemmings to develop the characters of the family, plus Sid, the older girl's weird boyfriend, who insists on hanging around the hospital room with them. Before long the younger girl brings an obnoxious friend of hers who quickly offends everyone in the room.

There is also an abundance of humor as the family visits close friends to break the news of Joanie's condition, and gives them a chance to visit the hospital and say goodbye to her.

The heartwarming aspect develops as Matt struggles through this very odd situation and becomes newly dedicated to seeing his daughters grow up with solid values. He also has a strong desire to meet his wife's lover — revenge mixed with wondering what Joanie preferred. He decides Joanie would want the lover to come and say goodbye to her.

So Matt and the girls go on a misdirected journey to another island to find Brian Speer. When Matt finds him, he is surprised to learn that Brian is married to a beautiful woman and has two sons of his own. This news puts his head in a spin.

In the meantime, he discovers that Speer is a real-estate executive involved in the dispersal of the family trust that Matt will have to take care of soon.

All of these complications pleased the author, who says she does her best work when "a character has a struggle to confront." It also adds suspense, making an otherwise literary novel into a veritable page-turner — something Hemmings enjoys. "I like to keep the reader on edge."

She has succeeded in telling a story with odd characters to whom the reader quickly warms. And she likes giving them dialogue that is witty and profound. The lush Hawaiian landscape adds another dimension, all of which makes this charming novel very satisfying.

Book review

Title: "The Descendants"

Author: Kaui Hart Hemmings

Publisher: Random House

Pages: 283

Price: $24.95

In a nutshell: A family presided over by a playful woman and a busy attorney is ambushed when the woman is injured so badly in a boating accident that she ends up in a coma. The husband and their two daughters gather around her bedside to try to make sense of their plight. Complications abound as the dad clumsily interacts with his girls and they try to rebuild their life. In spite of the tragedy, the novel is warm and wonderful.

---

E-mail: dennis@desnews.com