Rating: 
Summary: Funny, moving story of people I'd like to meet...
Review: A wonderful, funny, happy, sad story filled with women I would love to chat with in the beauty salon or at home. I love Patty Jane's classes and Thor's birdhouses and Harriet's music---this is a book to savor.
Rating: 
Summary: Patty Jane's House of Curl
Review: .... I picked this book up at a garage sale because I liked the eclectic title and the cover. I didn't seriously expect to enjoy it, ...I thought, "Hey, why not". I really, really got into it, and was quite disappointed when I was finished. I wanted to hang onto the characters for a little while longer. I am delighted to find that Lorna Landvik has written other books, as I think she has a refreshingly different approach to storytelling. While definitely not mainstream, I found the characters in PJHC interesting and diverse. I was anxious to know how they fared in their lives, and so read on avidly. Not all writers can be Barbara Kingsolver or Margaret Atwood...that does not mean they don't have interesting stories to tell if you are willing to read a little further and listen a little harder. I was impressed!
Rating:
Summary: A Treat!
Review: I loved this book from start to finish! It was indeed a treat, no boring parts and no unnecessary prolific descriptive detail. Everything in the book was entertaining. It was fun. The perfect book to snuggle up with.
Rating:
Summary: Fun!!!
Review: As a Norwegian descendant I found this book just plain fun (though tragic in parts). It was fine entertainment for it brought back memories and reinforced childhood psychological impressions and experiences--most of which made me laugh out loud.
Rating: 
Summary: UFF-DAH....
Review: Sorry, I tried....but this book was shallow and boring and completely trivial. I got to the middle and then skipped to the end...I need to embrace characters in a book. None of these characters were embracable...Uff-Dah!
Rating:
Summary: Sudsy soap
Review: The comments on the back cover should have tipped me. The Saint Paul Pioneer Press says: "Patty Jane's House of Curl has the emotional warmth of Lake Wobegon and the tender/tough female characters who populated Fried Green Tomatoes..."When you compare yourself to someone else, you are immediately settling for second place, because this is how frames of reference work. I have never been a big fan of Lake Wobegon, but I enjoyed Fried Green Tomatoes a lot, and Patty Jane's House of Curl is nowhere near it. PJHC is a sappy story of two sisters who face all kinds of disasters in the 15 or so years the book spans. The sheer avalanche of catastrophes and mishaps crashed against my suspension of disbelief time and time again. Some characters, like Avel, are ridiculous and simply unbelievable. Some scenes were very predictable from pages and pages before. Some scenes were just corny, like when Clyde and Patty Jane finally consummate their passion, or when Thor appears at Harriet's door with the music box. Sappy, corny, bland melodrama, more apt to succeed on early afternoon television. Finally, I disliked the fact that Nora is the narrator of the introduction and the epilogue, but the rest of the novel is narrated by the author. Nora would have made a better narrator. The sappiness that permeates the book is out in Nora's sections. If you want to read about female tender/tough characters, go for Fried Green Tomatoes. The audio version is definitively the way to go. The author herself reads the book, and she does a terrific job!
Rating:
Summary: Good Debut Novel
Review: In 292 pages, this novel strikes all human emotions. This is the story about 2 sisters, Patty Jane and Harriet who grow up in a household with 2 parents, both of whom are alcoholics. As a result, they are forced to grow up pretty quickly and assume responsibility not only for themselves but also for their parents. Patty Jane is the first to get married to Thor, who is an incredibly handsome man and for a while, they have a very good relationship. Unfortunately, Thor disappears right around the time that Nora is due to deliver their daughter Nora. Not knowing what has happened to him, Patty Jane experiences all of the emotions associated with abandonment by a loved one. In the meantime, Harriet falls in love with a very unlikely candidate and in her life, all seems good until a tragedy strikes. Both sister's have their share of tragedy with which they must deal with in their lives and their coping mechanisms are as different as they are. Harriet falls into 'the bottle' and disappears for a while while Patty Jane works hard at her business. In the end, they both fall in love again and are able to build relationships with men they love when Thor re-emerges in a very interesting and surprising manner. The final tragedy is truly a tragedy. I really enjoyed the epilogue and found it to be very touching. For those who enjoyed "The Bingo Queens of Paradise" and "Fried Green Tomatoes" this is a good read.
Rating: 
Summary: Middle of the road reading experience
Review: It isn't shakespeare, but it is a pleasant read. I liked Your Oasis on Flame Lake more. Poor Harriet, she must have been born under a black cloud. Still I will read the authors other books.
Rating:
Summary: Huh?
Review: I WANTED to like this book, because I'm from Minnesota and want to support Minnesota writers, but I had to force myself to finish it. The plot, for me, was completely contrived--more like a plot outline than a fully realized book. The characters struck me as hollow, superficial, and cliched, down from the Norwegian grandmother's constant outbursts of "Uff-da!" to Harriet's plunge, after a single night at a bar, into alcoholism, destitution, and prostitution(!) If the book were funnier, it could qualify as satire, perhaps, and one could forgive the author for her shallow writing and paint-by-numbers characters. The fact the one is apparently meant to take it seriously is worrisome. I don't like to give an author a bad review but there are so many much more masterfully written books out there that don't get the coverage and attention this book did, and I find that unfortunate.
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: Wow! I read this whole book in a day and a half. I could hardly put it down. The story line was compelling, as were the plights and solutions thereof devised by the various characters. I thought the last part, about "a place in the front seat" was an interesting resolution. I recommend reading this book.
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