Lorna Landvik
Author
Publisher
University of Minnesota Press
Pub. Date
2019
Language
English
Formats
Description
A bittersweet, seriously funny novel of a life, a small town, and a key to our troubled times traced through a newspaper columnist's half-century of taking in, and taking on, the world
The curmudgeon who wrote the column "Ramblin's by Walt" in the Granite Creek Gazette dismissed his successor as "puking on paper." But when Haze Evans first appeared in the small-town newspaper, she earned fans by writing a story about
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Comic Lorna Landvik gives Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon a feminine perspective with her story about Patty Jane and Harriet Dobbin, two wacky Minnesota sisters. Patty Jane's downfall is to marry the gorgeous but irresponsible Thor Rolvaag. Before she can say "annulment," a baby is on the way and Thor is gone, leaving Patty to rely on sister Harriet. It would be Patty Jane's entrepreneurial spirit that moves her to establish a beauty shop, her House...
3) Oh my stars
Author
Language
English
Description
I am convinced that at birth the cake is already baked. Nurture is the nuts or frosting, but if you’re a spice cake, you’re a spice cake, and nothing is going to change you into an angel food.
Tall, slender Violet Mathers is growing up in the Great Depression, which could just as well define her state of mind. Abandoned by her mother as a child, mistreated by her father, and teased by her schoolmates (“Hey, Olive Oyl, where’s...
Tall, slender Violet Mathers is growing up in the Great Depression, which could just as well define her state of mind. Abandoned by her mother as a child, mistreated by her father, and teased by her schoolmates (“Hey, Olive Oyl, where’s...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
In the small Minnesota shore town of Flame Lake, a close-knit group of friends find their comfortable lives taking some unforeseen turns. Best friends Devera and BiDi were recently voted "Least Changed" at their twentieth high school reunion, but Devera is starting to think of the label as insulting. Sure, she loves her husband and still believes being a wife and mother is the main entree on life's plate . . . but she longs for some more exotic side...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
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...
Author
Publisher
University of Minnesota Press
Pub. Date
[2014]
Language
English
Description
"No one steps up to life's banquet, holds out her tray, and orders, "Grief, please!" Yet as a child, Candy Pekkala was served a heaping helping of it. But every buffet line has a dessert section, and when a cousin calls with a Hollywood apartment to sublet, it seems though Candy is finally offered something sweet. It's good-bye to Minnesota and hello to California, where a girl who has always lived by her wits has a real chance of making a living...
Author
Publisher
University of Minnesota Press
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
"A mild-mannered actuary, Fletcher Weschel lives at the crossroads of Bland and Humdrum--or so he thinks until a cosmic contest catapults him into the fantasy world he made up as a boy. Suddenly his childhood bedroom is aswarm with aliens, all bent on discovering the human who best personifies their mission--in this case, the deeply serious pursuit of fun. Ejected from the boring comfort of his office chair, Fletcher finds himself astride the bare...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Joe was a hockey player and Kristi a cheerleader in high school, now Joe works in the local grocery store. The path Kristi has charged down, on the other hand, is as wild as Joe's is tame--or at least that's how it appears. But who has really risked more? Who has lived more? And who is truly happy? As Joe discovers, sometimes people are lucky enough to be standing in the one place where the view of the world is breathtaking, if only they'll open their...
Author
Publisher
Lake Union Publishing
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
"Newly installed at All Souls Lutheran, Mallory "Pastor Pete" Peterson soon realizes that her church isn't merely going through turbulent waters, but is a sinking ship. With the help of five loyal members of the Naomi Circle, the young, bold minister brainstorms fundraising ideas. They all agree that the usual recipe book won't add much to the parish coffers, but maybe one with all the ingredients on how to heat up relationships rather than casseroles...