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Summary: Similarities between "Ya-ya" and "Crossing to Safety"
Review: In one season, our book club read "Divine Secrets of the Ya-ya Sisterhood", and "Crossing to Safety", by Walter Stegman, and we found many similarities between the two stories, and some of their characters. It seemed to us that Rebecca Wells might have been influenced by having read "Crossing to Safety." Made them both more interesting to draw the similarities out of each.
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Summary: Good summer read....
Review: DIVINE SECRETS is a good summer read. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it put me to sleep. This is exactly the kind of book I like to read when I'm feeling lazy -- entertaining and not intellectually challenging. The main character is a young woman named Sidda who is involved in stagecraft along the lines of the author Rebecca Wells. She is also from LA like Ms. Wells. One wonders if the Mama depicted in YA-YA is anything like Ms. Wells own mother. YA-YA is extremely funny in places and extremely sad in others and extremely boring whenever the scenes shift from the Ya-Yas. Anyone who has ever dealt with a substance abusing parent will probably be able to identify with some aspects of Sidda's plight. Those of us who had mothers who became our own Girl Scout leaders and who taught us how to build campfires and swim and sing will also be able to identify. Ms. Wells has done a credible job of capturing life in LA, although her mise-en-scene is a bit thin in places. I also would have appreciated more character development. The characters act, but I do not have the sense that I understand their "being" at all--even Sidda. The occult in the South is much bigger than Ms. Wells suggests. I wish she had spent less time describing the goings on in Sidda's life on stage and more time dealing with the magic she so successfully evokes in the first pages of her book. YA-YA had the potential to be the female eqivalent of MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL. The reader can obtain other perspectives on life in LA and goose bumps via the writing of Anne Rice. Tim Gautreaux and Robert Penn Warren provide better poetry and grit.
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Summary: Finding out what the little key unlocks...
Review: Although it took me a little while to get involved in this book, once I understood what was going on, I was hooked. Siddalee Walker is 40, successful professionally, and in love with Connor, who is a wonderful man. But Sidda doesn't feel like she knows how to love, and so she has decided to postpone her wedding. Sidda's mother, Viviane, is very angry with Sidda for what she sees as the ultimate betrayal (read the book to find out what it is). So when Sidda writes to tell her mother the news of the postponement of the wedding, Vivi is torn between staying mad at her oldest daughter, and helping her out. Vivi's 3 best friends (Necie, Caro, and Teensy, along with Vivi, are amazing women who are known as the "Ya-Yas"!) talk things over with her, and Vivi decides to help Sidda by sending the scrapbook of the divine secrets of the Ya-Yas. Sidda has taken a solo trip (solo except for her dog) to try and sort things out, and though she is grateful for her mother's sending of the scrapbook, she is frustrated by the mounting questions that the pictures and momentoes in the scrapbook provoke - questions that she doesn't have the answers to. What is really "Ya Ya" (charming) about this book is how Sidda's questions are answered by Vivi's recollections in later chapters - recollections that only the reader is privvy to - whereas Sidda is still floundering around trying to figure things out. Then the Ya-Yas, minus Vivi, show up at Sidda's private retreat to help her sort through her memories of her mother, the feelings and questions, and though they don't have all the answers, they have stories to tell Sidda to help her fit the puzzle pieces in place. So, does Sidda and her mother ever reunite? What happens with Sidda and Connor and the wedding? And what am I talking about, "finding out what the little key unlocks"? (Ok - a small clue - there is a tiny little key tucked into the scrapbook that Sidda finds; she is at a loss for what the key unlocks, but sharing a memory with Connor helps her to remember...)READ THE BOOK and find out!!! It's such a satisfying read! And yes, there are some very funny moments in this book - but you'll also need your kleenex close by. Enjoy!
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Summary: A Book I Will Never Forget
Review: I loved every word of this book.I hope the movie will be as good or better(if possible).Buy the book,borrow it,check it out of the library,steel it or do whatever you have to do to get a copy of this wonderful book.
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Summary: If you've ever had a mother... and we all have!
Review: This is a fantastic book about the relationships of grown daughters to thier also grown mothers. It's a wonderful reminder that before "you" came along your mother had a life that didn't include diapers, children or a husband. She had dreams and she had desires. She was a teenager once.
Not all our relationships with our mothers are bad, and they aren't always good. They just are, and this novel expresses that in the best way I could ever think to say such heartfelt things.
You won't be sorry for reading this.
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Summary: Mixed Reaction
Review: Fun, but just not as good as the other quirky southern women, mother-daughter come-to-terms-with-the-past novels that I've read.
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Summary: Read this book!
Review: This book speaks of a mother/daughter relationship and it holds nothing back. Finally, a story that reflects real life. The writer does not try to sugar coat or apologize for the way the characters are. Read this book!
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Summary: A fabulous read!
Review: I couldn't put this book down!!
It's funny, the characters are fascinating and it's one of those books you never want to end. Marvelous.
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Summary: Did not want it to end...
Review: I could not have loved this book more. It is a quick read with engaging characters. I wish I had read "Little Alters Everywhere" before "Divine Secrets". (even though it is not half as good as "Divine Secrets") It explains some of the questions I had while reading "Divine Secrets". I can only hope that the new movie does this wonderful book justice. Every woman should have a Ya-Ya sisterhood!
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Summary: Great for all of us with dear girlfriends!!!
Review: This is one of the best books I have ever read. I found that I truly had love and compassion for the characters. As a student away at college, it made me miss all the girlfriends that I have grown up with all my life. I would recommend any woman giving this to her best friends!!! It also made me proud of my Southern background. I couldn't put this book down and I am waiting in anticipation for Rebecca Wells to write another one!!!
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