Rating: 
Summary: Divine Secrets full of magic
Review: This book is incredible. It deals with difficult subjects without turning people into stereotypes. It presents a colorful cast of characters that you just want to take home with you. It tackles subjects of abuse, and the reactions from it psychologically on both parties. It details loving relationships between people without turning to maudlin or sentimentality. And it's hilarious and heartbreaking in the same page sometimes.
It is magical.
"In the hot heart of Lousiana, the bayou world of Catholic saints and voodoo queens..." is the opening line to take you into this world.
It is truly beautiful.
SPOLIER WARNING:
I just have to say that some of the reviewers here seem to be missing the point. They characterize the explanation of Vivi's childhood as an 'excuse' for the abuse suffered by Sidda.
This is not what the book is trying to get across. At all.
The most important part of Sidda learning to move on from the abuse was learning that it was not Sidda's fault. No one made any apologies for Vivi, they told her what happened, and what caused her mother to break, and they told her this so she would stop thinking that there was something she did to cause this abuse.
This book DOES NOT promote abuse, or say that it's ok to beat your kids if you had a rough life. It faces up to the facts of the situation and does so without excusing anyone (save for the child abused, but that's fairly obvious).
Vivi was mentally ill when she 'dropped her basket' as she refers to it. This is not an excuse, but it's not what some reviewers are painting it to be 'I had a bad childhood, now I beat my kids' She was on high levels of (now known to be harmful) drugs, given to her by a doctor, and was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
The ridiculous and prejudiced misconceptions pertaining to mental illness are disgusting, and the fact that people discount the extreme level of mental illness Vivi was experiencing when the main incident of abuse happened is quite disturbing. Clearly the public at large is not educated properly in issues of mental illness and that needs to change. But don't take your ignorance out on this book.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully Thought Provoking
Review: This book was not written for me.
I did not grow up in a small county of Louisiana. I did not have a bad relationship with my mother. I do not have a sucessful career I have worked hard for all my life.
I grew up in Sounther California, and had a very close connection (almost too close, sometimes) with my mother, and I have moved from career to career in a haphazzard fashion.
This book, however, found it's way into my heart and managed to find those deeper places where I have many questions that have been unanswered. It touched the deeper parts of my friendship with those I have known since I was very young. It touched me the way it should touch all women who are struggling to make some sense out of their lives.
Vivi, Teensy, Caro, and Niece remind me very much of the girls who I have grown up with, whom I still keep in contact with, and whom I have loved deep in my heart since I can even remember. I see each one of my three girlfriends in each character, making me relate in a very communal way that I have yet to discover in any other story. The Ya-Ya's adventures sometimes parallel with my own, and yet, somehow, still leave me with the feeling I should be more to my life-long friends.
Sidda is on a quest. A quest for answers that are there, but aren't. I think we are all on this quest in one form or another. To find out why things happened the way we did. But, some things, we simply cannot understand upon the surface, and it takes a deeper searching of the heart to comprehend.
It is hard to remember that even though we are affected by those around us, we cannot always blame them for the things they have done. Until we understand the impulses and situations the led up to the moments we remember, we will always be asking the eternal "Why?". The Divine Secrets takes us on a journey of almost three generations, to show the history of not just families, but of times we, as the younger generation, may not fully understand. A time of war, of the Great Depression and Prohibition. Times that those of us in our 30's may not be able to even comprehend. The stresses and the losses, the simple things to find pleasures and the way the times can break people. The mind-set of a country just starting to grow and become a more mature nation, and still making mistakes is reflected in the families of Vivi, Caro, Teensy and Niece.
We all have things that we must learn to forgive our parents for. We all carry wounds from the way we were raised. We all have a sense of love for our families and friends that transcends the boundaries of rational thinking. The Ya-Ya's are truly eternal reminders that we must hang on to those things, grow from them, learn from them, but most of all, keep them close and don't analyze them...Just love them for who and what they are.
I think I'm going to call my friends now...
Rating:
Summary: Simply Divine...
Review: Two words that sum up this marvelous work of literature by Rebecca Wells: simply divine. I read this book on an airplane simply to pass the time, and found myself engrossed in a charming, quirky, and delightful romp of four of the most richly drawn women I have met in literature in a long time.Wells manages to capture the incorrigible spirit of each of the "Ya-Ya's" and their dynamics are wonderful. Their complex, supportive group is a real entity, as real as the characters that created it. The most rich character of the bunch is Vivi, whom you both love and fear. She is a tornado in the Louisana swamps, and her antithesis is her much-confused daughter Sidda. It's Sidda and Vivi's relationship that lies at the heart of this book. Through Vivi's life, Sidda learns and relearns some important lessons in life that allow her to continue forward. By looking back, it helps sets her future. What could have been merely a fun romp turns out to be dripping with personal nuggets of honesty. With each turn of the page, you laugh, you cry, you contemplate. Divine Secrets is surprisingly full of divine secrets, and discovering them is half the fun. Take it from a guy who loved this book: don't delay, put this book on your summer reading list, and then enjoy the movie.
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