Welcome to the Great Mysterious

From the popular author of Patty Jane's House of Curl and The Tall Pine Polka comes a funny, heartwarming novel in which the voice of the self-absorbed Broadway diva Geneva Jordan holds ingratiating charm. It's not Geneva's singing voice that's the magic here, however, but her plainspoken storytelling. At age 48, Geneva is called upon by her twin sister, Ann, to come to her hometown of Deep Lake, Minn., and baby-sit Rich, Ann's 13-year-old son, afflicted with Down's Syndrome. Ann and her husband, Riley, desperately need a vacation, the first one since Rich's birth, so Geneva reluctantly agrees to leave her glamorous life in New York City to care for her nephew for a month. Geneva slips into the role of parental figure with a few minor snags, and she and Rich bond over a box of old toys, where Geneva uncovers a scrapbook she and Ann made as children. Titled The Great Mysterious, the book asks such existential questions as ""What is true love?"" and ""What is the meaning of life?"" to which each family member wrote an answer. This diversion motivates Geneva's metamorphosis. Reading the words of her grandmother and parents, she begins to feel the ache of having given up family for her career. Still reeling from a ""doublehitter---heartbreak and menopause"" (she had broken up with her Broadway co-star), Geneva forges a special friendship with James, Deep Lake's wise mailman. She does, however, return to New York, where she considers marriage proposals until tragedy strikes a dear friend, forcing her yet again to reevaluate what's important in life. While the plot extends few surprises, Landvik's unpretentious story admirably captures the ups and downs of a small town from the humorous perspective of a big-city star. Agent, Betsy Nolan. (Sept.)