The story opens in a quiet time-just before World War I-and a quiet place-Harmony, North Carolina. We meet two 12-year-olds as their friendship begins: Jodie Harland, bright and ambitious, and Bethan Keane, a loving meek spirit who struggles to read the Bible with her eye problem.
Suddenly, Jodie's mother contracts polio and dies within a few weeks. The balance in the friendship between the two girls changes as Bethan becomes comforter to Jodie, whose father has retreated into his own world of work and sorrow. Arrangements are made for Jodie to compete in the state spelling bee in Raleigh, and as the girls ride the train to the competition, the world beyond Harmony comes clear to them.
The train is crowded with young men from Fort Bragg, about to head overseas. When the two girls arrive at the hotel, Jodie is fascinated with its grandness, and Bethan realizes her friend will leave Harmony at some point. It is also in Raleigh that Bethan learns Jodie is "not sure God exists and if He does, then I don't want to have any part of Him."
The wedge of belief versus denial remains in place between the two as the years pass. Bethan continues to love and pray for her friend and to include her in family gatherings such as the one to greet older brother Dylan when he returns from the war.
Dylan and Jodie fall in love, but Jodie draws him away from the church, and Bethan, after much prayer, confronts her brother. He breaks off the relationship, and the friendship between Bethan and Jodie ends-or so it seems.
While Jodie wins a scholarship to the university, Bethan remains in Harmony to care for her mother. The story seems to have reached a point familiar to many who lose a close friend from childhood, but for one "quiet little" point-Bethan continues to pray for her friend. How the friendship is restoredÑand prayers are answered-is too good to tell here. Just keep the tissues nearby!
Fans of these two authors will want to know how they combined their great talents to create Return to Harmony. Oke is noted for strong emotional connections to readers through the ordinary details of her characters' lives, while Bunn builds his stories with more attention to description and intricate plots. The two met at conventions and over time began corresponding. A mutual appreciation for each other's calling and strengths as Christian novelists led to the idea of combining those strengths as co-authors.
"Because our writing styles are quite different, we wondered how this was going to work," says Oke. "But. . . we were surprised and pleased with the way the story idea began coming together."
"Our prayers from the beginning have been that God would use this story of friendship . . .as a 'cameo miniature' of His love reaching out and reconciling us," says Bunn.
In this day when so many of us yearn for deep friendships, Oke and Bun remind us that the true harmony of friendship exists with God at the center.
Marty Sanchez is a freelance reviewer from Jacksonville, FL.
Copyright ©1996, ProMotion, inc.
www@acloserlook.com