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Summary: rich and textured characters
Review: A wonderfully well written story about a dysfunctional southern family with sympathetic, flawed characters. The story captures the complexities of relationships and feelings, involving the reader deeply. Although there is lots sadness and poignancy, the book leaves the reader with a sense of redemption and hope.
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Summary: littlecatholicgirl
Review: I read this book a few years ago, and loved every page. (It is hard to believe the author is a food critic.) Coming from a Catholic background, I found the characters easily identifiable. I found myself laughing out loud, as well as crying at times. This was a powerful book about relationships between mothers and daughters and how little some of us know about their life before our fathers. I did not see the movie, however, I highly recommend this book.
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Summary: Started out Slow but grew on me...a great read!
Review: The hype about the upcoming movie made me want to read this book, along with its intriguing title. But I almost gave up on reading the book. It started out slowly, and took a while for the pacing to pick up. I felt disinterested.Stick with it as there are warm moments along with heart chilling experiences. What Vivi experienced when she was "sent away", Vivi's mother, Vivi's memories of being a young mother...these are all gold. And I cheered for the guardian angels who helped Vivi along the way, the ya-ya's. I didn't like Vivi in the beginning but by book's end, her strength and pride shone through. Her bumpy rapport with Sidda made sense. Sidda's story and struggles are shared with us, but I identified more with Vivi's story of courage. Vivi's pain--the bad things in her past-- Sidda had no clue about. She wasn't able to read between the lines, know all the secrets left untold in the scrapbook. It was fitting--like real life.
Rating: 
Summary: A Funny,Touching Novel
Review: Having seen both the movie and reading the book. I have to say,once again the book is the winner. It dosen't have that silly "kidnapping" of Sidda by the other Ya-Ya's and is so full of detail that you can feel the 98% humidity and taste the Cajun food so mouth-wateringly depicted in the story. Most of all,it nice to read about a group of friends who geniuniely care for each-other and don't go around back-stabbing or cheating with the other's husband,etc. It'll make you wish had ones as loyal and appreciate the ones that are. It gets a bit slow in spots,but overall a very charming book.
Rating:
Summary: very enjoyable
Review: i had wanted to read this book since i heard that the movie was going to be coming out. it was a great book and i think that it was told brilliantly. it took me back to my childhood and brought back great memories.
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Summary: Loving and Dysfunctional!
Review: The story of four women and their friendship is loving. They have their own way of talking and spend a lot of time laughing. As they go on to raise families of their own, they pass the dysfunction of their childhood on to their own babies. This is a very realistic look at the abuse that many face and the loyalty that they feel to their families, despite the abuse. It is a woman trying to come to terms with her past and her mother's past. I am reading it again after seeing the movie. The other book, Little Altars Everywhere, goes into more detail of the abuse the Walker kids dealt with and is more upsetting.
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Summary: A Southern Sisterhood like no other
Review: As the daughter and granddaughter of two very southern woman, this was my book. I picked it up in Sam's club and couldn't put it down. I felt myself standing in bayou along with Vivi, Caro, Teensy, and Necie. Not to sound sectionalist, but to appreciate this book, it helps to come from these wild southern families. Even if you aren't, a little sisterly bonding never hurt anyone. I highly recommend this book!
Rating: 
Summary: Not impressed
Review: I had heard so many glowing reviews about this book that I was earnestly looking forward to a good read. I was very disappointed. I had to force myself to finish reading it. There was nothing remotely appealing about any of the characters. Three of the so called "ya-ya's" are so thinly defined that it was hard to imagine what drew the group together in the first place. The author spends far too much time describing how they were always in a bed, bath, or hammock together. She should have devoted that time to helping us understand them better. The main "ya-ya" is a poster child for dysfunction. This book reads like a long-winded justification of alcoholism, drug, and child-abuse. There is nothing divine in that.
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Summary: A book to give the reader Hope.....
Review: Divine Secrets is a multi-level read: Kind of an onion book. You can read it fast and laugh (and sometimes cringe) at the irrepressible Ya-Yas. There are funny, nearly side-splitting incidents that entertain. Then, suddenly, you turn a page, peal back another layer and find something that brings you nearly to tears. Vivi Walker kept a big scrapbook with mementos of significant happenings in her life, all the way from her childhood growing up in a Louisiana small town. The scrapbook is just about as hard to figure out as ViVi herself is. During a time of personal crisis, her grown 30 something daughter, Siddalee is sent the book by her mother. It's the closest Vivian can come to communicating some harsh truths to her eldest daughter about her shortcomings as a mother. For all that this large complex cast of characters has good times, they also have bad---sometimes awful! Love is mixed with indifference; hate with fear. But southern friendships and loyalties endure. These Ya-Yas can be counted on to help each other through all the bad and good times. Rebecca Wells has given the reader an unsparing look at the machinations of a dysfunctional (extended) family. She has the power to make you care deeply for these people and to dig deeper to understand them better. For this reviewer, the book was summed up in the story of Lawanda the Magnificent. ViVi was flawed by early events in her life and maybe also by living where she did and during the time that she grew up. But she was trying to be the best mother to her own children that she was capable of being. Most times, that's all any of us can do. This book is deeply moving and one I'll keep on my shelf and revisit occasionally when I'm in the mood for hot summer days on a wide shaded porch, swinging in the white painted, creaking porch swing with the gals and sipping a tall frosty glass of ice tea.
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Summary: Divinely Splendid
Review: I loved this book so much and recommended it to everyone I could possibly tell. In fact, Divine Secrets was so touching that I now am an avid reader looking for another book that will provide me with such a rich and enjoyable reading experience. The Ya-Yas are a great team of friends who brought me back to warm memories of my own childhood and the good times spent with friends. Vivi Walker's character is an amazing inspiration of a woman, even though she does have her short-comings. Rebecca Wells has a unique story-telling talent and her writing is clear and heart-felt. Divine Secrets is one of my favorite books, but I do not recommend reading "Little Altars Everywhere." Though the other book has the same characters, it is lacking the zest and enthusiasm that Divine Secrets has. Also, I would stick to reading the book and ignoring the movie as it does not do Wells' writing justice.
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