Divine Secrets of the Ya-ya Sisterhood

by Rebecca Wells | Women's Fiction |
ISBN: 0060173289 Global Overview for this book
Registered by aetherae of Los Angeles, California USA on 6/1/2003
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1 journaler for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by aetherae from Los Angeles, California USA on Sunday, June 1, 2003
Siddalee Walker, a director whose most recent success has gained her some fame in New York, accidentally makes a comment about her mother and a childhood trauma during an interview. When her mother, Vivianne, reads that interview, it precipitates a falling-out that threatens to sever their relationship. A distraught Sidda retreats to Washington, putting off her engagement. She persuades Vivi to send "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood", a scrapbook Vivi has been keeping since childhood chronicling her life and the lives of her three closest friends. The Ya-Yas are hilarious and sassy and insane, and the richly funny and deeply sad story which unfolds reads something like Louisiana's answer to the "Joy Luck Club". I know that sounds strange, but it's really quite true.

"Divine Secrets" is a much more enjoyable read, in my opinion, because it's a novel that doesn't take itself too seriously, even when the prose unfolds in lush, sensuous beauty. It captures life as painful and delightful in an extraordinary way, achieving a balance that many novelists seem to strive for and miss. Like many novels that shift between past and present, some plotlines end up feeling neglected, but luckily none come across as overexposed. The end leaves you with a real desire to have things tie up more neatly than they do. But, the narrator tells you, that's life. No moral, just life. That's very true, but it also makes an unsatisfying end to a story. I'm not sure whether I like that or not, but it's truthful. Fair enough.

A quick and lovely read. Ridiculously funny.

Journal Entry 2 by aetherae at Sitwells Coffee House on Ludlow Ave in Cincinnati, Ohio USA on Sunday, June 1, 2003
Released on Sunday, June 01, 2003 at Sitwells Coffee House on Ludlow Ave in Cincinnati, Ohio USA.

On a table by the curtain that divides the non-smoking section from the smoking section. Just inside the smoking section. A couple sat down and chatted for a while before getting up again, completely ignoring the free book sitting hopefully before them. Oh, for shame!

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