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Summary: Funniest part
Review: I was on an airplane reading the part about the Shirley Temple look-a-like contest. I was crying I was laughing so hard. Good book. Should I read Little Alters Everywhre?
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Summary: The YaYas Deserve a Pulitzer Prize
Review: This novel was quietly published, quietly reviewed, and quietly sold. How, then, did it rise to the bestseller list? I'll tell you how. Publishers and readers have pigeonholed Southern Fiction. We've had writers like Kaye Gibbons and Bobbie Ann Mason practically crammed down our throats (and this is NOT to say they aren't good writers; this is to say there are many kinds of southern novels.) Then a writer like Rebecca Wells comes along. She writes two wonderful, highly readable books. Ms. Wells appears to be something of an outsider in the world of literary writers. She's not the darling (dahlin) of The New Yorker or Paris Review. She's not best friends with Other Famous Southern Authors. She hasn't kissed the toes of anyone who could help her book in the literary world through reviews or prize nomination (and let's face it, many authors make a career out of this.) Her book wasn't picked by Oprah (not yet!) All Wells did was write a stunning book that almost slipped through the cracks. But readers told other readers. Book store clerks pressed the book into customers hands. Somehow it caught on like a housefire and as a result has turned the world's attention to fiction. Yes! A book can be fun! Yes! It doesn't have to have two thumbs up from The Boston Globe. Yes! A former actress without a Ph.D in English can actually write a cult classic! Readers can rejoice. And they can relax. Literary novels don't have to be dull, slow, or plotless! They don't have to put you to sleep like Excedrin PM. Some novels can win your heart and keep you wup all night reading. You won't have to listen to a song and dance from The New York Times (did it even review Ya Yas?) praising some borning book for the fine writing and blah blah blah, before you feel free to buy it. Rebecca Wells has done the impossible. A literary outsider has created a whole new genre. She has carved out a space for wild and wacky novels, for novels that didn't fit a predictable slot. Before the Ya Yas, if a southern novel wasn't like Faulkner or Welty, it was trash! Wells has proven this is nonsense. There's a whole world of eager readers out there waiting for her next book. I don't care if it doesn't have a riviting plot. I don't CARE if her prose "doesn't hold a candle " to other famous southern writers (as I read in another review). This is hogwash. Her writing is as good as it gets. If this is "plotless" fiction, then give me more. In fact the Ya Yas are better than Faulkner. It's better than COLD MOUNTAIN and all of those highly praised novels that nobody can read beyond the first chapter. The type of writing Wells does is the hardest of all: to write with heart and energy, to create characters who reach out from the pages and linger in your mind long after the book is finished.. It can't be duplicated. It can't be mimiced. Rebecca Wells is an American original, and the Ya Yas deserve a Pulitzer. She deserves one for her writing, for her wonderful women, and for her contribution to literature.
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Summary: Rebecca Wells touched my heart.
Review: The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya SisterHood stole my heart. The bond between mothers and daughters is a subject which captivates all us women and when the story wraps its tendrils around guilt, betrayal, love, forgiveness, loyalty, and acceptance, it cannot fail. Ms Wells so beautifully reinforced a notion which I have recently come to accept when she says, "I will never fully know my mother, any more than I will ever know my father or Connor, or myself. I have been missing the point. The point is not knowing another person, or learning to love another person. The point is simply this: how tender can we bear to be? What good manners can we show as we welcome ourselves and others into our hearts?" (346). This is TRUTH.
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Summary: Humorous heartwrenching and thought provoking
Review: Our book club read this selection last month and the concensus was FABULOUS. Just about any person who had good buddies growing up will find similarities between themselves and at least one of the characters in this book. It is something just about anyone can relate to and Ms. Wells writes with a forthright style and imagination. This was a FUN book. Can't wait to read another of her books. Ta, Ta, all you Ya Ya's out there.
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Summary: It will make you laugh, cry and call your mother!
Review: This book was AWSOME!! The characters are loveable to say the least. I really identified with Sidalee and all of her trials with her mother (who hasn't had those?!). What was really great was how she came to know her mother in a different light - through her friends (the ya ya's). The story touched on every emotion I own. It was a really incredible reading experience. And the best part -- it has a happy ending!! Bravo Rebecca Wells!
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Summary: This book IS all women of the South
Review: Wells has captured the essence of women of the South, especially Louisiana. Coming form Louisiana, I recognized the special way of life that we have down here immediately...I love how when Sidda and Connor are coming home at the end of the novel and Sidda asks him if he had his shots and passport. I laughed so hard because Louisiana is a different country. The book touched my soul, especially the religious side of it. When Vivi was praying to God, barganing with him, I laughed because I thought of all the times that I tried to bargain with God, as if he is some blacjack dealer. I reccomend this book to anyone and everyone, especially if you are a Yankee....Now I don't want to give anything away, but you will definately be a different woman when you finish with this book. Oh yeah, have a box of tissues ready!
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Summary: Incredible book about women and friendship.
Review: One of the best! I enjoyed each and every word. A must for all women who value their close friendships.
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Summary: The mother/daughter bond lasts through good and bad!
Review: I just finished 'Divine Secrets'and I can't wait to read her first novel about Sidda and family. It's a little like putting the cart before the horse, but at least I'll know what to expect. I'll know that regardless, in the end, love holds out. I felt as though I was there in the deep south of Louisianna as well as at the lake where Sidda 'learns' the Divine Secrets. Definitely a page turner. I passed it along to a mother/daughter for their vacation reading. I'm sure they'll both gain from it; I know I did.
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Summary: This book affected me in a way that will never leave me.
Review: When I picked up this book, its dynamic words jumped right off the page and into my startled, open mind. From the very beginning, Wells gives the feeling both of difficult, difficult conflict and of serenity that is washing through the mind of Siddalee Walker. Her emotions-both Wells' and Siddalee's-seem to spiral into the inner heart of the reader, making this one of the best books I've ever read. More importantly, though, is the way Wells blends the stories of Sidda, at 40, and the turmoil in her life, with the happy-go-lucky days of her mother and her three best friends. Wells' women are strong, and highly beautiful. This feeling eminates from the stories like rays of light from the sun. All in all, Wells has broken the barrier between being an excellent writer and being a star.
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Summary: Rah! Rah! for the Ya-Ya's--Vital Women of the South
Review: The Ya Ya Sisterhood is every woman's dream relationship with her fellow woman. The other as support and strength and vitality. How the men pale in comparison as lost loves or simply husbands. It's one woman's search for her mother as a person. The search for the feminine and balancing the ying and yang. How can she be an accomplished person when she doesn't know if her mother approves of her? How can she commit to the all-too-perfect love of her life if her mother doesn't love her? Reconstructing her mother's past and her relationship with the Ya Ya's helps her identify and solve her dilemna. A wonderfully thoughtful, yet joyful journey.
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