[.ca] The Tall Pine Polka (ISBN 0449003701)

From Amazon.com:
Balanced on the remote edge of the boundary waters in northern Minnesota, the Cup o' Delight Café is home to a motley crew of locals. Drawn to the addictive coffee and the equally addictive company, the customers share the fortunes of life together. Having left the dangers of the big city and an abusive husband behind, owner Lee O'Leary helps guide and inspire her friends, particularly Fenny Ness. There seems to be no problem that Lee or her coffee can't solve. Then Hollywood arrives and chooses the town of Tall Pine as the setting--and Fenny as the star--of a new film. With the encouragement of her friends, Fenny overcomes her inhibitions and agrees to act. To add to the general excitement, a handsome stranger arrives in town. Big Bill has qualities that draw both Lee and Fenny to him; as their world turns upside down, Lee and Fenny struggle to balance loyalty and happiness. Author Lorna Landvik has won acclaim for her blend of quirky humor and bittersweet realizations. As in her earlier novels, Patty Jane's House of Curl and Your Oasis on Flame Lake, Landvik juxtaposes a slapstick sense of rural Minnesota with humble and human pathos. Unrequited love, personal insecurity, and post-traumatic stress disorder may not be the most original sources of profundity, but Landvik builds her characters' growth like layers of translucent watercolor, and ultimately creates a complex and endearing novel. --Nancy R.E. O'Brien

Waste of time:
Loved her other books, but Landvik was somewhere else when she wrote this. Because I enjoyed the others, I kept hoping for something redeeming, but it never happened. I should have not wasted my time with this book. Didn't particularly care for the characters, or what they did to one another in the name of friendship. Just not believable. I think she wanted to write a 1930's Romantic Comedy -- but set in today's world, it just didn't work.

Tall Tale of Love:
This is a bittersweet novel. It involves everything from love to sorrow. I recommend this to anyone looking for a good laugh and a good cry.

Really, really, really good read:
Lorna Landvik won legions of devoted readers with her debut novel, PATTY JANE'S HOUSE OF CURL, and kept them with YOUR OASIS ON FLAME LAKE. She's likely to delight her fans again with THE TALL PINE POLKA, which has more than a few things in common with her earlier novels: Landvik returns to her beloved small-town Minnesota setting, the action centers on a friendly gathering place (where the title 'dance' routinely takes place), and the story is about the bittersweet bonds between women. A novel divided in tone, it's light-hearted and funny throughout the first half, tragic and more darkly humorous in the second part, like a sunny day at the lake turning ominous as thunderheads move in over placid waters. That a relationship like Lee and Fenny's can survive such a string of betrayals may seem overly optimistic, but friendship and love can run as deep as a feud in the forced proximity inherent in small-town life. The offbeat characters who people the rest of Tall Pine provide a comforting cushion for Fenny and Lee to fall back on; that may be the greatest small-town truth in Landvik's third novel. You might also enjoy Jackson McCrae's THE CHILDREN'S CORNER if you liked this book.

Great Read:
I loved it and Im sure will read it again! Being from Minnesota the title intreged me enough to ant to read the book and I was Not Disappointed!!!

Amiable Cluelessness:
This book contains a set of amiably quirky characters from upstate Minnesota and Hollywood. The author's insider knowledge gives the moviemaking scenes (a considerable portion of the book) a degree of verisimilitude. If you by some chance actually like this book then I would recommend a Jon Hassler novel to you in addition. Begin with his "Staggerford". It has a similar setting, range of unusual and well-drawn characters, and even shares at least one key plot element. It would be worth your while to determine why his book has an enduring depth that Landvik's clueless novel lacks (and it's not just that as a college English professor, he possesses a sounder grasp of the language).