Once in a Blue Moon Lodge by Lorna Landvik

I have not read Patty Jane's House of Curl, the first book about this family. One of the reviews on the back cover notes that it "reads easily as a stand-alone." Well, I was really confused about who everyone was for too many pages. There are so many characters, and without having any knowledge of the first book, I initially regretted not reading it before this one. Because of that, it took me awhile to get into the story. I didn't even appreciate the author's obvious sense of humor right away, simply because I was trying to keep all the characters straight in my head. Pretty early on, I put it aside to read another book.

When I picked up this book again to "muster through the story" I was determined to invest myself in the process. Once I started, I enjoyed it very much. I figured out who most of the characters were (the three generations - and eventually four generations- of names) and managed to remember most of the time which generation they were from and who they were connected to. What really got me invested was Ione's story. Once I understood where this matriarch of the family came from - and how she got to where she was - then everything started falling into place. I also started appreciating Lorna Landvik's sense of humor.

I love the quirkiness of the characters. I appreciated Thor's kindness and how his family (including his wife Patty Jane and her "boyfriend" Clyde, who people assumed was her husband) accepted Thor for who he was and how he was a part of their family. It was wonderful to read about a family who accepted people into their family simply because a family member loved them. There were no titles like "step-father"; it was simply "dad" or "grandfather". The bloodline didn't matter. What mattered was a family connection immersed in love and acceptance.

So, after a slow start, I ended up reading it very quickly. I read whenever I had a few minutes and I wanted to keep reading. It is heartwarming, funny, sad and endearing. I loved this eccentric, quirky family. Despite several characters passing away during the book (the different stories in the book cross over decades), the remaining central family members are happy, content and love the person they are with. Yes, it's a little "tidy" at the end, but it felt comfortable like my old flannel robe on a cold, winter night. Cozy.

Wendy's Rating: ****