The Tall Pine Polka
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Book Overview
In the small town of Tall Pine, Minnesota, at the Cup O'Delight Cafe, the townsfolk gather for what they call the Tall Pine Polka, an event in which heavenly coffee, good food, and that feeling of being alive among friends inspires both body and soul to dance . There's the cafe owner, the robust and beautiful Lee O'Leary, who escaped to the northwoods from an abusive husband; Miss Penk and Frau Katt, the town's only lesbian couple ("Well, we're za only ones who admit it."); Pete, proprietor of the Shoe Shack, who spends nights crafting beautiful shoes to present to Lee, along with his declarations of love; Mary, whose bad poetry can clear out the cafe in seconds flat; and, most important of all, Lee's best friend, Fenny Ness, a smart and sassy twenty-two-year-old going on eighty. When Hollywood rolls into Tall Pine to shoot a movie, and a handsome musician known as Big Bill appears on the scene, Lee and Fenny find their friendship put to the test, as events push their hearts in unexplored directions--where endings can turn into new beginnings. . . .
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0449003701
ISBN13:9780449003701
Release Date:May 2001
Publisher:Ballantine Group
Length:464 Pages
Weight:0.87 lbs.
Dimensions:0.9" x 5.6" x 8.3"
Customer Reviews
5 ratings
Great read
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 23 years ago
This is the kind of book you save to give to your sister or best friend. It's a great read, very interesting characters. Both the men and the women are three dimensional and grow throughout the book. Having grown up in Los Angeles, I can appreciate the movie ambiance. Lankvik gets it down pretty well, with a good understanding of the peculiar hold that tinseltown sometimes gets on folks. Yet, it isn't one of the nine million Hollywood noir books that have gone on so tediously elsewhere. The people are real people, in Hollywood or in Minnesota.I found myself thinking about the book all during the workday, wondering if it would be possible to sneak away to read one more chapter before night time. Now that's a book!
Wonderfully inspring
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
The story revolve round a group of lively coffee-lovers in a small town, the Tall Pine. Central to the story is the lovable Fenny Ness and her friend Lee. A summary of the story will not do justice to the book as all the characters in the book, no matter how small their roles were, made the whole book came alive. The story brought in Hollywood, romance and rivalry, and traces of tragedies, but through them all, the characters remained true to themselves and their beliefs. The whole book is so lively, so lovable that I found it hard to put down.Reading the book, I felt as if I know Fenny, Bill, Lee and gang all my life, sharing their laughter and tears. It was as if I am part of Cup O¡¦Delight. It made me feel inspired and encouraged at the thought that there is some place in the world where faults are accepted, where rules can be broken gracefully and where love conquers all.
An excellent book
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
This is a well written, thoughtful novel. Although not as obviously funny as Patty Jane's House of Curl, it still contains unique characters and off the wall situations. It is well worth the read.
An engrossing tale
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
Lorna Landvik has this way of creating characters that are realistically eccentric. I live in the northwoods of MN and boy do I wish I had the community that the folks in Tall Pine Polka had. It's refreshing that Friendship is at its core, not just love relationships.
This book was O'Delightful!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
Lorna Lanvick has done it again! The characters become very good friends and it almost hurts when the book is over. I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys Michael Lee West, Faith Sullivan or Sandra Dallas. Oh by the way Ms Landvick, if you read this review would you please, please send me the recipe for O'Delight? I would give anything to taste a cup of coffee that knocks me off my seat!
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