Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood: A Novel

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood: A Novel
by Rebecca Wells

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood: A Novel
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Book Summary Information

Author: Rebecca Wells
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-12-07
ISBN: 006075995X
Number of pages: 400
Publisher: Harper Perennial

Book Reviews of Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood: A Novel

Book Review: I'm ga-ga for Ya-Ya!
Summary: 5 Stars

WHY DID IT TAKE ME SO LONG TO READ THIS BOOK?! I want to kick myself! I almost didn't read "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" at all because I wasn't completely taken with Rebecca Wells' first installment in the Ya-Ya series, "Little Altars Everywhere." However, I am thrilled that I decided to dive into "Divine Secrets" and I'm glad I had all the background information from "Little Altars" to go on.

"Divine Secrets" revolves around the characters of Siddalee Walker and her mother, Vivi. Sidda grew up with her family in Louisiana, but she fled the state long ago to pursue a career in theatre. When a reporter from the "New York Times" publishes an interview with Sidda that refers to her mother as "a tap-dancing child abuser," Vivi wants nothing to do with her daughter. Sidda eventually decides to take a break from her career and her fiance. She holes up in Seattle and decides to do some research for an upcoming production she's working on. Sidda reaches out to her mother and asks her to share information about the Ya-Yas, which consist of Vivi and her longtime friends Caro, Necie, and Teensy. Vivi responds by sending her daughter a cherished scrapbook filled with bits and pieces of Ya-Ya history that date back almost sixty years.

The novel shifts back and forth from Sidda to Vivi. As Sidda dives deep into her mother's past, she gains a greater understanding of the kind of person Vivi really is. The scrapbook doesn't contain all the answers to Sidda's questions, however, and the most entertaining parts of the book are Vivi's flashbacks about her upbringing and the life she's shared with her beloved Ya-Yas.

The one problem I have with this novel is that I'm not overly crazy about Siddalee's character. Her whole "I don't know how to love" complex really bugs me, and in spite of the difficulties she had to endure at the hands of her crazy mother over the years, I don't think it's fair or believable to point the finger at Vivi as the source of all Sidda's problems. Sidda is a much weaker person than Vivi is and I had a hard time feeling sorry for her at all...in fact, I felt much more compassion for Vivi, even in spite of all the crazy stunts she pulled over the years.

Overall, though, "Divine Secrets" is an absolutely beautiful book about family, friendship, forgiveness, and love. The four Ya-Yas are such wonderful characters and I fell in love with all of them. I hope that my friendships will endure through the years in the same way the Ya-Yas did.

Summary of Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood: A Novel

When Siddalee Walker, oldest daughter of Vivi Abbott Walker, Ya-Ya extraordinaire, is interviewed in the New York Times about a hit play she's directed, her mother gets described as a "tap-dancing child abuser." Enraged, Vivi disowns Sidda. Devastated, Sidda begs forgiveness, and postpones her upcoming wedding. All looks bleak until the Ya-Yas step in and convince Vivi to send Sidda a scrapbook of their girlhood mementos, called "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood." As Sidda struggles to analyze her mother, she comes face to face with the tangled beauty of imperfect love, and the fact that forgiveness, more than understanding, is often what the heart longs for.

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood may call to mind Prince of Tides in its unearthing of family darkness; in its unforgettable heroines and irrepressible humor and female loyalty, it echoes Fannie Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe.


Wells is a Louisiana-born Seattle actress and playwright; her loopy saga of a 40-year-old player in Seattle's hot theater scene who must come to terms with her mama's past in steamy Thornton City, Louisiana, reads like a lengthy episode of Designing Women written under the influence of mint juleps and Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom!. The Ya-Yas are the wild circle of girls who swirl around the narrator Siddalee's mama, Vivi, whose vivid voice is "part Scarlett, part Katharine Hepburn, part Tallulah." The Ya-Yas broke the no-booze rule at the cotillion, skinny-dipped their way to jail in the town water tower, disrupted the Shirley Temple look-alike contest, and bonded for life because, as one says, "It's so much fun being a bad girl!"

Siddalee must repair her busted relationship with Vivi by reading a half-century's worth of letters and clippings contained in the Ya-Ya Sisterhood's packet of "Divine Secrets." It's a contrived premise, but the secrets are really fun to learn.

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