Once in a Blue Moon Lodge: A Novel

by Lorna Landvik

Overview

Set adrift when her mother sells the salon that has been a neighborhood institution for decades, Nora Rolvaag takes a camping trip, intending to do nothing more than roast marshmallows over an open fire and under a starry sky. Two chance encounters, however, will have enormous consequences, and her getaway turns out to be more of a retreat from her daily life than she ever imagined. But Nora is the do-or-die-trying daughter of Patty Jane, who now must embrace the House of Curl’s slogan: “Expect the Unexpected.”

With her trademark wit and warmth, Lorna Landvik follows Nora and an ever-growing cast of characters between city and wooded retreat, Minnesota and Norway, a past that’s secret and a future that’s promising, but uncertain. Responding to a mysterious letter with a Norwegian postmark, Nora’s grandmother Ione travels to her native land to tend to a dying cousin and her husband—two people who played a painful, pivotal role in her past. Nora accompanies her and is surprised by her grandmother’s long-ago love story—but even more surprised by the beginning of her own.

A book about making new beginnings out of old endings, Once in a Blue Moon Lodge invites readers to check in, set down their baggage, and spend time with the kind of people who understand that while they can’t control all that life throws at them, they can at least control how they catch it. And as anyone who has stopped in at Patty Jane’s House of Curl will tell you: you’re in for a rollicking good time with characters whose strengths, foibles, and choices will have you laughing and crying. Hankerings for coffee and gingerbread cookies may also be experienced.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781517902704
Publisher:	University of Minnesota Press
Publication date:	04/17/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	328
Sales rank:	288,388
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Lorna Landvik is the author of eleven novels including the best-selling Patty Jane’s House of Curl, Angry Housewives Eating BonBons, Oh My Stars, and most recently Best to Laugh (Minnesota, 2014). She has performed stand-up and improvisational comedy around the country and is also a public speaker, playwright, and actor who gets much pleasure from mixing up margaritas on stage in her one-woman all-improvised show, Party in the Rec Room.

Editorial Reviews

"At long last! Patty Jane and her irresistible band of big-hearted merry-makers return to us. Lorna Landvik’s humor is wrapped around a core of love, common sense, and good cooking. Pull up an easy chair, pour a glass of wine, and enjoy this grand family reunion."—Faith Sullivan, author of Good Night, Mr. Wodehouse

"Lorna Landvik creates characters and places so warm and real that reading Once in a Blue Moon Lodge feels like coming home (if you're lucky enough to be surrounded by people and places as weird and wonderful as Lorna's—I think I am)."—Nora McInerny, author of It's Okay to Laugh (Crying Is Cool Too)

"There is a charm and warmth to this hopeful tale in which love is the glue that holds people together. Landvik's love for her characters is evident."—Kirkus Reviews

"A people lover's book. This refreshingly simple family tale provides a comfy diversion from the everyday world."—Kirkus Reviews

"Her characters, their gentle humor and world view, feel like home."—Always Packed for Adventure

"The many twists and turns in the story will provide excellent fodder for book-club discussions."—Foreword Reviews

"Landvik’s characters are generous and witty. They are big-hearted and inclusive. They inspire others, welcome strangers and appreciate practical things done well."—Star Tribune

"This novel is suffused with love—between parents and children, between spouses or lovers, between people who are unrelated but considered family. There is a gentle humor and good-heartedness in all of Landvik’s books, a fondness for her characters that touches the reader."—Pioneer Press

"A book about making new beginnings out of old endings, Once in a Blue Moon Lodge invites readers to check in, set down their baggage and spend time with the kind of people who understand that while they can't control all that life throws at them, they can at least control how they catch it."—Where the Reader Grows

"I fell in love with the characters."—Reviews of Books On My Nightstand

"The ties that bind the family and the truths that come out over time are evident and true to form for what you would expect from a feel-good contemporary novel."—Clues and Reviews

"You’ll get caught up in short order, and you’ll get wrapped up even faster."—The Bookworm Sez

"With pockets of humor and the lighthearted nature of a small town, this work of fiction will appeal to those who enjoy cozy mysteries."—Green Bay Press-Gazette

From the Publisher

2017-01-23
This sequel to Landvik's debut novel (Patty-Jane's House of Curl, 1996) reads easily as a stand-alone. A light read—not deep, but definitely wide—the story follows Ione Rolvaag's family (and friends) for two decades.The Rolvaag family, from matriarch Ione on down to her great-grandchildren, lives, laughs, and loves at Blue Moon Lodge. In a nutshell, Ione gets a second chance at the love of a lifetime. Her daughter-in-law, Patty Jane, can't marry the man she loves because her legal husband, Thor, has returned, brain damaged, after a 15-year absence. Nora, Patty Jane's (and Thor's) daughter, has a one-night stand that leaves her more than surprised (three guesses), but in this basically optimistic tale, she finds love, too. And her kids, and those of her half brother, turn out well, so happiness overrides the sad events that are spattered throughout. Nora's newly acquired Blue Moon Lodge in rural Minnesota is the focal point for the action, a cozy place where friends and family gather. The novel's lengthy time frame slows forward momentum. There's no definitive plotline, just four generations living, loving, learning, and struggling through the occasional hard times over a span of 20 years. It's a story about family—but chock full of other characters, too, and much dialogue. There is a charm and warmth to this hopeful tale in which love is the glue that holds people together. There is no apparent main character; each shares the spotlight in a short scene before the curtain drops and another's stage is set. Landvik's love for her characters is evident; she introduces multiple peripheral people, who serve as color in the backdrop of a close-knit family, and she has clearly thought deeply about the people she puts on the page. She even provides a detailed epilogue to show where life takes them after the book is closed. A people lover's book. Characters grow and change; family and friends support each other. Predictable, but comfortably so, this refreshingly simple family tale provides a comfy diversion from the everyday world.

Kirkus Reviews