Welcome to the Great Mysterious

by Lorna Landvik

Megastar of stage, screen, and television, Geneva Jordan now has a command performance in Minnesota, where she agrees to look after her thirteen-year-old nephew, a boy with Down’s syndrome, while his parents take a long-overdue vacation. Though Geneva and her sister, Ann, are as different as night and day (“I being night, of course, dark and dramatic”), Geneva remembers she had a family before she had a star on her door. But so accustomed is she to playing the lead, finding herself a supporting actress in someone else’s life is strange and unexplored territory. Then the discovery of an old scrapbook that she and her sister created long ago starts her thinking of things beyond fame. For The Great Mysterious is a collection of thoughts and feelings dedicated to answering life’s big questions—far outside the spotlight’s glow. . . .

Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Book Club, Womens Fiction, Family, Adult Fiction

324 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Lorna Landvik is a mother of two and wife of one. She is the author of eight novels, including the best-selling ANGRY HOUSEWIVES EATING BON BONS, PATTY JANE'S HOUSE OF CURL and OH MY STARS. Also an
actor and playwright, Lorna has appeared in many stage productions. She is a new and passionate neophyte to the practice of yoga, which is a fine antidote to her long established practice of lounging.

Reviews

[Joanne Goon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is simply a well-written, thought-provoking piece of fiction. What started out as a leisure read for me really turned into an important life lesson. It truly will help all self-absorbed women (and admit it, we all are at times) to see the greater picture. I intend on buying this book for my best friend, and of course, including a box of tissue.

[Cirtnecce · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all-time favorites reads, which inevitably leads to a lot of crying, thereby increasing sales of Kleenex and I am so surprised I have never written about this book is called “Welcome to The Great Mysterious” by Lorna Landvik. I had never read Ms. Landvik before I picked up this book and I have never read anything since. But, boy! Am I glad that my flatmate picked up this book one summer afternoon three years ago when our community library was selling of some of its older collections due to space constrains.

“The Great Mysterious” is not a mystery/thriller – in fact it is one of the best happy books that I have read – true there are some heartbreaking moments, especially around chapter 10 and 11 (My Kleenex quotient jumps from 3 to the whole box Now!) but in the end when you close the book, you will have a smile on your face. The book is about dive Geneva Jordan, a broadway star who is in between projects and nursing a broken heart and menopause. It is at this serene moment of her life that her twin sister Ann, arm twists her into babysitting Ann’s 13 year old son Rich, while she and her professor husband take a much needed work/vacation for a month in Italy. Geneva Jordan is not particularly happy at the thought of spending time in the back woods away from the glamour and comfort of New York where she had decided on spending this time indulging herself and taking a much needed vacation while coming to terms with the crucial changes in her life. The other worry she had was that Rich suffers from Down Syndrome and she is not quite confident as to how she would manage such a child. After much pleading and emotional turmoil, she agrees to take on her nephews care and moves into her sister’s house for a month. It is there that her transformation begins – how she begins a warm relationship with its natural ups and downs with her nephew Rich, new enriching friendships with Barb, who is mother to Rich’s best friend Conrad and James the mail man and the discovery of small joys that are far more beautiful than the most expensive indulgences. Intertwined with this journey of self-discovery via a memory book that a 13 year old Geneva and Ann created seeking to find answers to the big questions in life called “The Great Mysterious” and the understanding that all relationships have several layers and a person may not be the way they seem and that the past gives strength for living for the future, when you know how to look!

It is not, and I repeat NOT a pedantic book. Written in an engaging first party narrative from the point of view of a very warm but very human Geneva Jordan, the book does not aim to be a high brow literature. Instead it tells you an unstoppable story which makes you turn page after page until you reach the end. It’s a funny book – there are many ha ha moments and critics can say that it’s a very linear story and far too simplistic etc. but the book is what it’s meant to be - an entertainer! There is nothing holier than thou or oh! look at the bright side of things and Down Syndrome is god’s gift etc etc. Instead it’s a joy ride of a book - where you laugh, scream and the cry your way through. It’s like talking to a great companion and realizing at the end of 2 hours, that the companion is actually a great friend to whom you can go back whenever you are happy or sad or just need company time after time!

[Marge Prohofsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. I can't imagine what it would be like to be a successful and known broadway star like, Geneveva Jordan (she even has the name of a star!), who has recently broken off a relationship with a fellow actor, at age 48, and is thrust into Deep Lake, a Minneapolis suburb, on a month-long invitation to babysit her nephew with Downs, while her twin sister, Ann and her husband vacation to Italy.
Geneva, the diva, is more than a one-dimensional character, and the flashbacks to her Norwegian Lutheran roots and the wonderful discovery of the book, The Great Mysterious, that she shares with her nephew helps us to understand the joy-filled, depressed, successful woman who was once an 11-year-old filled with dreams and deep, loving relationships with her grandmother, sister, parents who share their philosophies of life inside the pages of The Great Mysterious. The pain and the joys of life are woven together in this novel in very funny ( I laughed out loud in places) and tear filled (cried, as well) places.

[Angela Shaeffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, sweet and happy. Loving family plays a big part and I love that about Landvik's books. I love that Rich, who has down syndrome, doesn't feel like an exaggerated caricature of "a kid with Down's" but just himself who happens to have Down's.

Perfect for reading in the pool on a hot summer day.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love authors who write stories about a specific area and time. This book is framed within the Halloween blizzard in Minnesota when my youngest was a 4th grader... I had made her a wonderful princess costume but she went trick or treating as a cross country skier. That being said, Landvik's story of a famous Broadway actor who is asked by her sister to take care of her Down Syndrome nephew while they take a much needed trip to Italy, is an experience that awakens the actress to reexamine her life.

[Alicia Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great love story, I did not expect the sad part toward the end. Parts of the story were very predictable. I read this book in a few hours.

[Ladyslott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a slight book that deliberately tugs on the heart strings- so I did tear up but I hated myself in the morning. I don’t like to feel manipulated, and that is what this book does, it’s also sweet in a kind of cloying way.

Geneva Jordan is a Broadway star, she’s won Tony’s and people applaud when she walks in a room. She’s just been replaced in her current show by a younger star and her recent boyfriend has left her for a younger woman. When her fraternal twin sister Ann calls and begs her to come back to their hometown and care for her nephew while Ann and her husband take a much needed vacation Geneva is filled with doubt, her nephew Rich has Down’s Syndrome and Geneva is not sure she can care for him; eventually she reluctantly agrees and heads home to play her biggest role to date.

Once Geneva arrives in Deep Lake, Michigan she seems to take to caring for Rich with just some minor snags. She befriends the mother of Rich’s best friend Conrad, a boy with cerebral palsy. She also has a fling with the local mailman (mmmm really??). After spending a month in Michigan she returns to New York where her life takes some interesting turns and Geneva is back to living the high life until a sudden tragedy brings her back home again.

So this is a sweet little book, but too predictable and a little on the light side. It’s like eating cotton candy - you enjoy it while it’s going down, but ten minutes later you’re looking for something else to fill you up.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

This may turn out to be my favourite Lorna Landvik - but I can't decide as I really did enjoy the others I have read. As with the other novels, this can be a touch sweet and smaltzy in parts - but all in all - very hard to put down. The story conerns Geneva - broadway star - and her nephew Rich, Geneva agrees after much badgering to look after Rich for a month while his parents take a well earned holiday away from their adorable son who has special needs. This involves her leaving New York for a while and staying in her sister's house in Deep Lake, Minnesota. I loved the characters of Rich and Conrad - two boys who know what friendship is. Some of the conversations between Geneva and her Downs Syndrome nephew Rich felt very realistic, as are their occaisonal frustrations as they try and work out how one another opperates. During her stay in Deep lake Geneva is reminded poignantly of her own childhood, and her dead grandparents, when she finds an old book she and her sister made - called The Great Mysterious. New friends and the secrets of The Great Mysterious help Geneva when she has a desicion to make, and when tragedy comes to Deep Lake. There are some tear jerking bits about 50 pages from the end, but I did enjoy how things were rounded off.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two thirteen year old twin girls, Ann and Geneva, battle boredom one rainy summer week by creating a scrapbook posing the world's biggest questions. They called the book "The Great Mysterious". As adults, the twins were still as different as night and day physically as well as in their personal lives. Geneva succumbs to her sister's pleas to babysit her Down Syndrome nephew so she & her husband could vacation in Italy. Geneva is a Broadway star, quite taken with herself and acts her way into the role of pseudo-parent. In finding "The Great Mysterious" and, after her month with her nephew, Geneva finds the answers to some of the world's biggest questions - and a lot about herself. This was a quick read and despite knowing the outcome, quite enjoyable.

[Jess Van Dyne-Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up, thinking it was a light piece of chick-lit, and really enjoyed it. It was light - but compelling.

[Melissa (Vacation Mode) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy Landvik's books, and this one is surprisingly meaningful. It looks at sisters and their lives.

[Leslie Good · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good summer read. Somewhat predictable, but brought a few tears and an occasional laugh.

[Naomi Krokowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Landvik’s writing is so entertaining and endearing, as well as thought-provoking. I adored her book Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons, and this one has all the same lovely character development and LOL moments. I dove right in and enjoyed getting to know protagonist Geneva, who is self centered and spoiled. Thankfully, she’s got great friends and family to help her grow and change, and I especially loved her nephew Rich. He’s a 13 year old with Down’s Syndrome, and Landvik succeeds in making him a complete and endearing young catalyst for Geneva’s transformation from brat to well-rounded human.
I’m so grateful have an author like Landvik, particularly since I had just read the heart wrenching memoir Tragedy Plus Time by Adam Cayton-Holland. Once you’ve read a terribly sad true story like that, even one with such great humor in it, it’s balm for your soul to read a lovely and heartfelt novel like Welcome to the Great Mysterious.
Curl and and get cozy, this book will be perfect company!

[Claudia Cheyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Geneva Jordan is a self-admitted diva. She stars in plays on Broadway and lives in New York City far from her Deep Lake, Minnesota roots. Geneva's twin sister, Ann, calls to request a favor. Would it be possible for Aunt Gennie to spend three weeks caring for their thirteen-year-old son with Downe's Syndrome while Ann and her professor husband Riley take a rare vacation trip to Italy? Geneva has recently realized she is not a particularly nice person so she somewhat reluctantly agrees. The experience turns out surprisingly well. Geneva revisits places and memories from her childhood. She meets people who enrich and change her life as she becomes less self-centered.
I read this book in 2000 when it was newly published. I don't usually read books a second time, but I was thrilled to find it on the shelf of the used boook store recently as I remembered that I really liked it. Just as good the second time around!

[Les · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Original Thoughts (2001):

While it was an enjoyable and quick read, I was disappointed in Landvik's latest novel. It read like a Sidney Sheldon or Danielle Steel book with all the sappy scenes you'd expect from those authors, but not Landvik. It could have been much better, I think. Too cliched and predictable. Obviously life-changing moments occur, including the requisite romance. It wasn't a bad book; just not the caliber I've come to expect of this author.

I did like the idea of The Great Mysterious scrapbook. Very creative idea and thought-provoking.

My Current Thoughts:

Not surprisingly, I don't remember this book or anything about the scrapbook.

[Taunjac · Rating 4 out of 5]

First time reader of this author (I picked it in my Book Club Christmas exchange- wrapped of course so I had no idea what book I was even picking. I just like the wrapping paper!

And at the beginning of the book I wasn't quite sure that I was even a fan of the main character (quite honestly I felt she was a very self absorbed beeyotch) but I kept reading a few pages here and there for a few nights. Ultimately I enjoyed her so-called transformation to becoming a more caring human and was quite pleased with the entire book. Enough that I'm charging my kindle so I can research this author and hopefully download a few more of her books!

[Luisa Benson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Welcome to the Great Mysterious by Landvik is a feel-good, easy read that was a bit too predictable. Geneva Jordan is an aging Broadway star whose twin sister Ann needs a big favor. As professors, Ann and her husband have an opportunity to spend a month studying in Italy. They reluctantly leave their thirteen-year-old son Rich with Geneva supervising because Geneva, historically distant and condescending, knows what Down Syndrome is. A failed relationship and menopause convince Geneva that a break from Broadway makes sense. But Geneva predictably gets more than she bargained for. I forced myself to finish this rather cliche tale.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m posting this very unlike-me book because we read it for my IRL book club a couple of months ago and I neglected posting.

I loved our discussion, and liked the book ok. I much prefer to live mentally in the 19th century, so spending time with a Broadway diva who was a complete jerk to everyone was taxing on my patience. Her life choices and the romance in the book were frustrating. But she did improve as the book progressed. The best thing about it was the sweet relationship she developed with her nephew who had Down’s syndrome. It was definitely an unusual plot, but that saved it for me.

[Trudy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a sweet change of pace for me after my usual world war stories. It is funny and endearing, and sad in spots. Geneva Jordan is a self proclaimed diva, a star on Broadway who has taken a break from both her job and her love interest. She agrees to stay with her 13 year old nephew Rich who has Down syndrome, in Minnesota, while his parents take a vacation. What transpires is a heartwarming story of how she grows away from her diva persona and becomes a loving, caring and capable woman, finding her real self. The story's wonderful characters, Rich's friend Conrad and mom Barb, Geneva's sister Ann and brother in law Riley, on stage costar Trevor, new friends James and daughter Natalie and flashbacks to young Ann and Geneva with their family members make for a delightful read.

[CynthiaA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Geneva Jordan is a well known Broadway actress used to a lifestyle that reflects her status. She would be the first to tell you that she feels “entitled” to her perks and privileges. But she isn’t without empathy and loyalty and agrees to care for her nephew, Rich, while her sister and husband take a long overdue holiday. Rich is 13, with Downs Syndrome, and what follows is a life lesson for Geneva about what is truly important and what everyone is entitled to. Predictable but “feel good” in a good way. A perfect summer read.

[Jessica Snajder · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I rate books, I usually base my rating on my enjoyment of the story, if I learned something, if the book will stick with me and if I would encourage someone else to read it. I rarely get bogged down in the editing of the book or the author's writing style. This book was a challenge to read because of the overuse of parenthesis. I have never read a book with at least one use per page. It was frustrating and almost caused me to put the book down, I also wonder how parents of children with Down Syndrome or Cerebral Palsy feel about the portrayal of these conditions in the characters.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a brief discontent with the story pacing about half way through and almost gave up on the rest of the book, feeling it was getting tedious. I was rewarded with an emotionally gripping tale with many unexpected twists.The female protagonist, Geneva Jordan, finds answers to the big questions of life and love in the long forgotten Great Mysterious booklet. New additions with friends and family bring her long repressed Minnesota nice into play in matters of friendship and love.

[Radala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick notes:
-I appreciate this author’s skill with building imperfect characters that you understand and grow to care about.
-The item that lends the title is a fascinating concept to me, partially because no one in my family would have participated.
-The end of the book felt rushed, which made the resolution more predictable/flimsy than i would have preferred. (-1 star)
-It’s still a book that i really enjoyed and made it to my ‘keep’ shelf.

[Susan Schneider · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were parts of this book that were very endearing, humorous and deep. Some of the Broadway parts, in my view, depicted the character as very superficial and a bit immature. The contrast was needed to arrive at the level of difficulty it took for her to take on the task but I didn't find it that believable. I've enjoyed other of her books much more.

[Darlene Christensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Geneva Jordan is a Broadway star who came from MN and where her twin sister and her family still live. Her sisters son has Downs and hasn't had a vacation since his birth. Geneva spends a month taking care of her nephew and becoming closer to him. There is surprises, tear and laughs in this book for the reader

[Gillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the character of Geneva a bit over-the-top. I liked Rich and Conrad. They were well-drawn and believable. It's great to have people with disabilities in main roles.Trevor seemed like caricature of an English "actor".

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful read about authentic relationships, about special needs children, about what really matters in life, and about respect for yourself and others. With humor, sadness, a bit of fury toward a few characters, and a good belly laugh or two for good measure.

[Sondra Stark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great coming of age story at any age

Great characterizations, even if all of them aren't totally loveable. The plot developed at a good pace and even with the sad moments ended in a satisfying manner

[Leesa K Bartu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story

This was well written and entertaining. I love how she treats some of the special abilities of her characters. Not your usual ROM com!! Extraordinary. After reading I felt encouraged satisfied and happy.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read, but your emotions will sneak up on you. Broadway star who stays with her twin sister's teenage son while his parents go on vacation. The teenager has Down Syndrome and his best friend has Cerebral Palsy. Lots of homegrown, Minnesota, small town stories and reminisces.