Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Lake Elmo Library | FICTION LAN | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Stillwater Public Library | FICTION LAN | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Reluctantly agreeing to take care of her nephew, Rich, a thirteen-year-old boy with Down syndrome, while his parents take a vacation, actress Geneva Jordan finds her life turned upside down by the youngster.
Author Notes
Author Lorna Lanvik was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1954. After high school graduation, she and a friend traveled in Europe and settled in Bavaria where they worked as hotel chamber maids and English tutors. After returning to the United States, she briefly attended the University of Minnesota before moving to San Francisco to perform stand-up and improvisational comedy. She moved to Los Angeles, where she did stand-up comedy at the Comedy Store and The Improv as well as worked a variety of temporary jobs including one at the Playboy Mansion and another at Atlantic Records.
She is an actor and playwright who has performed in plays she has written and produced. She has appeared in numerous plays including Bad Seed, Lunatic Cellmates, and Valley of the Dolls. She has written six novels and currently lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two daughters.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
From the popular author of Patty Jane's House of Curl and The Tall Pine Polka comes a funny, heartwarming novel in which the voice of the self-absorbed Broadway diva Geneva Jordan holds ingratiating charm. It's not Geneva's singing voice that's the magic here, however, but her plainspoken storytelling. At age 48, Geneva is called upon by her twin sister, Ann, to come to her hometown of Deep Lake, Minn., and baby-sit Rich, Ann's 13-year-old son, afflicted with Down's Syndrome. Ann and her husband, Riley, desperately need a vacation, the first one since Rich's birth, so Geneva reluctantly agrees to leave her glamorous life in New York City to care for her nephew for a month. Geneva slips into the role of parental figure with a few minor snags, and she and Rich bond over a box of old toys, where Geneva uncovers a scrapbook she and Ann made as children. Titled The Great Mysterious, the book asks such existential questions as "What is true love?" and "What is the meaning of life?" to which each family member wrote an answer. This diversion motivates Geneva's metamorphosis. Reading the words of her grandmother and parents, she begins to feel the ache of having given up family for her career. Still reeling from a "doublehitterÄ-heartbreak and menopause" (she had broken up with her Broadway co-star), Geneva forges a special friendship with James, Deep Lake's wise mailman. She does, however, return to New York, where she considers marriage proposals until tragedy strikes a dear friend, forcing her yet again to reevaluate what's important in life. While the plot extends few surprises, Landvik's unpretentious story admirably captures the ups and downs of a small town from the humorous perspective of a big-city star. Agent, Betsy Nolan. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
A flamboyant Broadway actress helps out her sister by caring for her nephewa Down syndrome teenagerfor a month. Geneva Jordan has just discovered shes not the center of the universe after all. Her run in a hit musical has ended, and shes been jilted by her lover, co-star Trevor, a studly British actor with a penchant for ingénues. What to do but sulk and moan? She might as well help out her mousy sister Ann, whos begging her to watch her 13-year-old son Richard so Ann can take a long-overdue vacation with her husband. Geneva reluctantly agrees, happy to get away from Trevor and his latest wide-eyed conquest. Flaunting lots of New York attitude, she descends upon her sisters modest house outside Minneapolisand soon she and Rich are best buddies, sharing good times and talking over old ones. And thats when Rich brings out the book Geneva and her sister made years agoTHE GREAT MYSTERIOUS. Using a Cheerios box for the cover and construction paper pockets for the pages, the young girls posed the Big Questions about life, love, and God to one and all. The contributors: their practical dad, freethinking mom, earnest Grandma Hjordis, and, naturally, the sisters themselves. As she reads, Geneva realizes that the answers hold more meaning than everand many surprises. An even better surprise: the irresistibly down-to-earth James, single father of one of Richs playmates. A mailman by choice, and a gifted pianist as well, Jamess wry wit and sturdy Minnesota virtues make him more appealing than pseudo-sophisticated Trevor, who has the effrontery to beg Geneva to come back when the ingénue moves on. Geneva must choose, and choose she does. Despite the brittle dialogue (often very funny), theres a you-betcha optimism at the heart of this winning tale. Landvik (The Tall Pine Polka, 1999, etc.) takes a less self-consciously wacky approach and should reach a wider readership this time around.
Library Journal Review
Although she's a Broadway star, self-centered Geneva Jordan has butterflies in her stomach when she (grudgingly) travels to Minnesota to take care of her 13-year-old nephew, Rich, who has Down's syndrome, while her sister and brother-in-law take a month-long vacation in Italy. In addition to being inherently selfish, Geneva is also coping with fast-approaching menopause and a devastating breakup with her costar, Trevor. But staying with Rich proves surprisingly rewarding, especially after they discover a scrapbook Geneva and her sister put together as children, which forces her to confront life, death, and happiness. Of course, it doesn't hurt that she meets James, a concert pianist with a bad case of stage fright (now working as a mailman, much to the shame of his ex-wife). When Geneva returns to New York and her old life, Trevor's reappearance (with an enormous diamond ring) forces her to choose between the two men. It's a no-brainer, yet Landvik's fourth novel is sadly predictable and flat, completely lacking the vigor, delightful characters, and goofy plot that endeared readers (including this reviewer) to her third novel, The Tall Pine Polka (LJ 7/99). Purchase only to meet demand. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/1/00.]DNancy Pearl, Washington Ctr. for the Book, Seattle (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Excerpts
Excerpts
All right, so I'm a diva. There are worse things--a mass murderer, a bigot, a telephone solicitor. I'm surprised my sister even uses the word as an insult. Why should I be offended by the truth? My dictionary defines diva as "a distinguished female singer." I certainly am that. The word, however, is cross-referenced with prima donna , defined as "a temperamental person; a person who takes adulation and privileged treatment as a right and reacts with petulance to criticism or inconvenience." Well, I might ask, who likes criticism or inconvenience? And why shouldn't one take privileged treatment as a right? A little self-esteem is not a bad thing. Ann, for instance, could use a serious infusion of it. Throughout my life I have heard the question, "Are you really twins?" It's an understandable query; Ann and I are as different as the proverbial night and day. Ann once elaborated on that analogy in an interview, describing me as being night--dark and dramatic, living among stars--and herself as light and plain and about as exciting as an afternoon nap. We're fraternal twins, obviously, and don't share that spooky, ESPy you're-my-other-half thing identical twins do. Ann and I are more like sisters who could have been born years apart if Mom hadn't been such an industrious egg layer. We're very close and have shared everything from chicken pox to clothes to deep secrets, but when I look at Ann face-to-face, I don't see my mirror image. In fact, if I looked at Ann right now, what I'd see is a big pest. For those of you who don't know me (where the hell have you been living, in a cave with no TV or cable access?) I am Geneva Jordan, star of stage, screen (unfortunately, my theatrical schedule hasn't allowed me to do the movies I've been offered), and television (if you didn't see me accept my Tony award, I'm sure you heard my voice singing the Aromati-Cat cat litter and Chef Mustachio Frozen Pizza jingles). Recently I just ended a year and a half's run in the title role of Mona !, a musical about DaVinci's mysterious model. She's a gal with a crazy half smile, she's Mona Lisa! Oh, what I wouldn't do to get a piece a . . . that Mona Lisa! You'll have to trust me that the music is so catchy, the lyrics actually work. My role as Mona Lisa brought me my second Tony, a cover story in New York magazine, and a relationship with Trevor Waite, my costar. My role as Mona Lisa and its resulting dividends, especially my relationship with Trevor Waite, is also what brought me close to mental and physical collapse. Which made my sister's request all the more preposterous. "Please," she begged over the phone, changing her tack from insulter to supplicant. "Riley and I need this time together." "I'm not arguing that, Ann. It's where I come in as baby-sitter that I'm objecting to." "You're Rich's godmother." "I'm aware of that, Ann. But godmother does not mean rescuer." "Then what does it mean?" I looked at my watch. I didn't have to be anywhere for another hour, but she didn't have to know that. "I have to run, Ann. I've got a hair appointment." " What does it mean?" "Listen, Ann, I don't--" "Quit calling me Ann." "That's your name, isn't it?" "Yes, but whenever you're in one of your I'm-right-and-you're-wrong modes, you overuse my name. Like a cranky old schoolmarm or something." "First I'm a diva and now I'm a cranky old schoolmarm. Nice talking to you too, Ann ." I could hear her protests as I hung--okay, slammed--the receiver back in its cradle. She called back immediately, not grasping the concept of a dramatic exit. I let my machine pick it up. "Geneva," she said, "please. I'm sorry. I don't know where else to turn. Please pick up. . . . Please help me, Dee." Oh, that was low. Dee was a reference to the childhood nicknames bestowed on us by our Grandma Hjordis. "It's Tweedledee and Tweedledum!" she used to say in her Norwegian accent, "my favorite twin grandchildren in the world!" We were her only twin grandchildren, but she made us feel that we couldn't have been surpassed by quintuplets. She lived next door to us, and her home was a cinnamon-roll-smelling haven for my sister and me, a place where she played endless games of Hangman and War with us and let us upend all her furniture cushions to make elaborate igloos (when we played Roald Amundsen discovering the South Pole) or wigwams (when we played Leif Eriksson discovering America). She had a canoe in the backyard that we'd pretend was the Kon-Tiki . Excerpted from Welcome to the Great Mysterious by Lorna Landvik All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
