7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A bit different Lorna Landvik, January 26, 2001
This isn't "Patty Jane's House of Curl" or "Tall Pine Polka" but it is an ejoyable read. It was the books premise which made me want to read "The Great Mysterious." A very popular, very busy diva on Broadway is reaching middle age, approaching menopause, and recently having been dumped by her boyfriend who has decided he needs a younger woman on his arm, is asked by her sister to babysit for her nephew who has Down Syndrome in a small town in Minnesota. She decides this might be just the thing for her at a time when she feels the need to "get away" and to slow down. Along the way, she finds out what is really important in life with the help of an old notebook she finds......The Great Mysterious. Somewhat predictable, a bit of a romance novel feel to it, but well worth it.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A PREDICTABLE ROMANCE, November 7, 2000
With Patty Jane's House Of Curl (19 ) and The Tall Pine Polka (1999) Lorna Landvik served laughter, reader satisfaction, and casts of original characters (mostly endearing).
With Welcome To The Great Mysterious we find a stereotypical protagonist, a Broadway actress in her descendency (she is 48!) plus a rather formulaic soap opera plot. And, to ensure a good cry, there is a child with Down syndrome and another with cerebral palsy.
This is not to say that Ms. Landvik has abandoned her trademark humor, it is there but more predictable than surprising.
The Broadway star is Geneva Jordan who has been divorced by Jean-Paul, an irresistible Frenchman who wanted a green card rather than a wife, and dumped by British matinee idol Trevor, "a modern version of Errol flynn and Laurence Olivier." A tad shallow and an admitted diva, she sees "nothing wrong with a little self-aggrandizement." Geneva explains, "There are worse things - a mass murderer, a bigot, a telephone solicitor. And why shouldn't one take privileged treatment as a right?" She is plagued by loneliness, a black fear that she has named "Petunia" in the hope of blunting its powers. And, Geneva is also a fraternal twin.
So, despite a mountain of misgivings, when her sister, Anne, calls with a plaintive SOS Geneva responds. Albeit reluctantly. She heads for Deep Lake, Minnesota, to babysit Rich, her 13-year-old nephew with Down syndrome, while Anne and her husband take their first vacation in as many years.
Once in the middle of Minnesota she meets Ann's best friend, Barb Torgerson, mother of Conrad who has cerebral palsy, and possessor of a frizzy permanent that Geneva's hairdresser "would never have allowed to leave his shop."
And, romance readers, rejoice! She also meets recently divorced James, evidently Deep Lake's one Renaissance man - he plays the piano, coaches the girl's hockey team, and has thrown over a top of the corporate ladder job for a mailman's route on which he often ponders spiritual matters.
Now, the moment James and Geneva appear on the same page, readers know what's going to happen - it just takes a while plus a few jigs and jogs before it does occur.
The Great Mysterious of the title is a makeshift book with cereal box covers that Ann and Geneva made as young girls. They entered weighty questions into it, such as the meaning of true love, and the meaning of life, then left the book open so adult family members of could write in their responses. Upon rediscovering the book in the nether world of Ann's closet, Geneva faces these questions again as she reassesses her values and goals.
The Great Mysterious is a pleasant read. It's not Ms. Landvik at her peak, but it definitely is Landvik and for her many fans that may well be enough.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just what I needed, September 21, 2000
By A Customer
The thing about Lorna Landvik's writing, is that it's not necessarily GREAT literature... but when I read it, I get done and think, that's just what I needed. Her characters become like friends, and the sometimes soap operatic plots are like the soap operas of everyday life. Welcome to the Great Mysterious has this great friendship at its core.... Conrad and Rich's. Their simple love of each other is enviable. It's what holds this book together. Landvik writes about the great mysteries of life - love, death, friendship, family, snow on Halloween... that make me look at my life a tiny bit differently...With a little more awe at all that is there.
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