The Ruins of California, a Novel by Martha Sherrill

The Ruins is a curious coming of age story of a young girl, Inez, set during the laid back yet turbulent 70's in both San Francisco (SF) & a modest Los Angeles (LA) suburb.  Inez is the daughter of a voluptous Latin mother, Connie, and Paul, a handsome, intelligent and hedonistic father.  We follow Inez as an innocent girl living in LA as she is shuttled between very divergent lifestyles of her divorced parents and extended family.  Sherrill captures the joys of childhood days and the onslaught of the emotional adolescent years.  It is through Inez's eyes that Sherrill paints a vivid portrait of the divergent lifestyles prevalent through the drug infused, counter culture and conflicting conservative society during the 70's.  Inez seems malleable and accepting of both her father's many girlfriends and drug use as well as her more modest and conventional life in LA.   Paul's wealthy aristocratic mother brings Inez into the privilleged world of horseback riding, cotillion lessons and high tea.  Inez also forms a strong familial bond with her brother, Whitman, from Paul's previous marriage.  As Inez matures into her own person, we've grown to admire her ability to navigate these torrid times.  Yet, I recommend this book more as an homage to the 70's than a riveting, character driven novel.