4.5 stars.

Once in a Blue Moon Lodge by Lorna Landvik is an absolutely delightful multi-generational novel starring the ever charming Rolvaag family and their friends. Following the family for over two decades as they traverse life's numerous ups and downs, this captivating follow up to Patty Jane's House of Curl is a light but emotional read that old and new fans are going to LOVE.

Nora Rolvaag is a little lost after her mom, Patty Jane, decides to sell the family owned business. Craving a little solitude, she sets off on a weekend of camping that leads to some very unforeseen life-altering changes. Her unexpected encounter with eccentric Nellie Freeburg leads to an unanticipated opportunity that comes along just as she needs a new direction for her life. An out of character decision also changes the course of her life and could derail Nora's burgeoning romance with a wonderful new man. Luckily for Nora, her close-knit and loving family is always ready to provide her with the support she needs as she embarks on the next phase of her life.

Just as Nora is facing new challenges, her beloved grandmother Ione receives news that takes her back to Norway. The impending death of her estranged cousin Berit is the impetus for the trip and their first face to face meeting in decades is surprisingly healing as old secrets are finally revealed. However, there are more welcome surprises awaiting Ione as she becomes reacquainted with her first love, Edon, and readers will be completely enchanted by this luminous couple's second chance at love courtship.

Patty Jane is also featured heavily throughout the story as she and the love of her life Clyde Chuka celebrate his commercial successes as a revered sculptor. Their unusual relationship is an absolute delight and although their happiness is also mixed with the tiniest bit of sorrow, their commitment to one another and compassion for others is one of the highlights of the story.

Once in a Blue Moon Lodge is a warmly inviting story of family and friendship that is incredibly heartwarming. The cast of characters is eclectic but immensely appealing and watching them navigate all of the joys and sorrows of their lives is an emotionally-charged experience that will bring readers much laughter and a few tears. This absolutely marvelous follow up to Lorna Landvik's divine Patty Jane's House of Curl can easily be read as a standalone, but I highly recommend both of these heartfelt novels.
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Unaware this book was a sequel to Patty Jane's House of Curl which I had not read, I dove into this book, expecting it to be more about a place than a multi-generational story. Nora, Patty Jane's daughter is the central character, but we hear the voices of her grandmother, mother, and her own triplets. The book was a little "all over the place," lacking a true focus and vision to tie it all together. The expected the lodge to fulfill the role, but the author never gave the lodge character to enable this. The Scandi influence and humor, while appreciated by some, is probably lost on the majority of readers. Serializing the contents over several books and developing the stories more fully would have been a better option. The last section just seemed to zoom through the entire course of the triplets' lives without delving too deep into any character. Disappointing! ( )

I didn't finish this, it was just too slow for me, but I won't judge by giving stars. On to the next...

Once in a Blue Moon Lodge by Lorna Landvik is like catnip for me. It’s the story of first, second, and third generation Scandinavian immigrants in Minnesota. The Rolvaag family in her book came from Norway. My grandparents came from Sweden, but except for Ole and Lena jokes and Syttende Mai, ethnic differences between Swedes and Norwegians are minimal in the ethnic enclave where my family settled. Everyone says “Uffda” more easily than “Damn” and has more than a casual acquaintance, fond or not, with lutefisk and lefse. After all, the most important phrase “mer kaffe” is the same in both languages.

Once in a Blue Moon Lodge is the sequel to Patty Jane’s House of Curl, telling the story of Nora, Patty Jane’s daughter. Patty Jane is still there and so is her mother-in-law, the family matriarch Ione. It begins when Patty Jane retires and sells her House of Curl, Etc. Nora has been the Etc for some time and is feeling at loose ends. An impromptu winter camping trip and a surprise trip to Norway lead to encounters with two men who dramatically change her life. While in Norway, she is offered the chance to buy a lakeside lodge from an eccentric and at Patty Sue’s urging jumps on it…and so the Once in a Blue Moon Lodge came to be.

A new generation of the family is born and grow to adulthood in this book that takes us from 1988 to the present. It’s a multi-generational family story and friends and family grow old and die. There are challenges to overcome, including sickness, old age, disability and depression. It’s the circle of life that makes us laugh and cry and laugh again. Through it all, the Rolvaag family is blessed and protected by the love they have for each other and their can-do spirit.

If you’re from Minnesota, a second, third, or even fourth generation Scandinavian American, you are likely to enjoy Once in a Blue Moon Lodge. If you are not, you might find it a bit self-indulgent and silly. But then, if you like Fannie Flagg’s madcap family stories, you will also love Landvik. This is not a book that takes itself too seriously. It presents Minnesota Nice at its curious, open-hearted best.

There’s a tradition of Scandinavian immigrant fiction that is long and rich in family sagas that span several books. The classics are O. E. Rolvaag’s Giants in the Earth series and Vilhelm Moberg’s The Emigrants series. For a more sentimental view, there is Thyra Ferré Björn’s stories of the Franzon’s. Then there is the light-hearted Kathryn Forbes Mama’s Bank Account which has some of the madcap element that distinguishes Landvik.

There’s a bit of tidying up loose ends, letting us know what happens to the customers who frequented Patty Jane’s House of Curl. Near the end, Lewis, a neighbor kid who spent a lot of his formative years with the Rolvaag family sends a parody “Christmas Letter” which seemed just perfect because the last chapters felt like the author’s Christmas letter to her readers. It was unnecessary from a literary standpoint, but if you’re writing the story for friends and family, well, then it an absolute necessity. And that’s what this book feels like, a book for friends and family of the Rolvaag’s and if you read the books, you can’t help but feel like part of the family.

Once in a Blue Moon Lodge will be released on April 11th. I received an advance e-galley from the publisher through NetGalley.

★★★
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