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

By Rebecca Wells

“A big, blowzy romp through the rainbow eccentricities of three generations of crazy bayou debutantes.”
—Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“A very entertaining and, ultimately, deeply moving novel about the complex bonds between mother and daughter.”
—Washington Post

“Mary McCarthy, Anne Rivers Siddons, and a host of others have portrayed the power and value of female friendships, but no one has done it with more grace, charm, talent, and power than Rebecca Wells.”
—Richmond Times-Dispatch

The incomparable #1 New York Times bestseller—a book that reigned at the top of the list for an remarkable sixty-eight weeks—Rebecca Wells’s Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is a classic of Southern women’s fiction to be read and reread over and over again. A poignant, funny, outrageous, and wise novel about a lifetime friendship between four Southern women, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood brilliantly explores the bonds of female friendship, the often-rocky relationship between mothers and daughters, and the healing power of humor and love, in a story as fresh and uplifting as when it was first published a decade and a half ago. If you haven’t yet met the Ya-Yas, what are you waiting for?

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Mar 17, 2009
• ISBN: 9780061743368

Rebecca Wells

Writer, actor, and playwright Rebecca Wells is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Ya-Yas in Bloom, Little Altars Everywhere, and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, which was made into a feature film. A native of Louisiana, she now lives on an island in the Pacific Northwest.

Reviews for Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

[bkoopman_5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a "coming of age" story for a 40 year old who is reconciling the realities of her life with her baggage from childhood, as she learns to empathize with her mother. I particularly love this quote: "Because she gave me physical birth, do I expect her to give me spiritual birth as well?" This is a universal battle every adult child must eventually face when learning to understand the generation of her parents. That, and, "Who ARE these people?!" Wells brilliantly allows us to understand that prior generation through a scrapbook that contains the "divine secrets" of a group of girlfriends.

[leftik_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Better than I thought it would be, but I'm not sure how frequently I'll go back to read it...

[ssellis-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Perfect Holiday reading! I loved the way you followed Sidda's emotions regarding her mother and Grandparents and as with all good holiday books - it has a nice ending if not a little alcoholic? Not sure about the righting of the Louisiana twang tho.

[dukefan86 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The things I enjoyed most were the Southern setting, and learning bits and pieces of the strong friendship among the four girls->women throughout the book. Since I've moved several times since high school, I haven't maintained the closeness with my childhood girlfriends like the women in this book did. I liked how the scrapbook told part of the story as well.

[sly_wit · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The story is dark, but doesn't everyone wants close friends like these?

[sittiecates-4 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

When I saw this book at a bookstore, the cover didn’t actually scream, “Buy me! I look so good on the outside. I’m sure you’ll want to know what secrets I hold within.” But I still bought it. I was more interested in knowing what those “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood” were.

I leafed through the pages and digested the words… I found they weren’t good. They were, in my opinion, “exceptionally good” because, as a daughter, I felt the pain and desperation of Siddalee Walker as she tries to reconnect with her mom, while at the same time, face her own troubles. As a mom, I also understood what Vivi Abbott Walker felt, especially, when her tale slowly unfolded.

There were scenes that depicted a raucous, wild lifestyle. I’ve seen many similar situations that run along in the same manner. What I mean is that Rebecca Wells tells the tale from a world that has mirrored views on reality, and I must say that this is her strength. She can spin the tale and make those (who can relate to it) gravitate towards it and understand its underlying messages.

The story is fast-paced, peppered with scenes that evoke different emotions: I found myself with a heavy heart at one page and smiling at the next. Personally, the story had a lingering effect on me. Even though there were scenes that I do not favor, overall, the story’s take on lasting friendship (somehow rare in our times) and building family relationships are what deeply impressed me about this book.

[theinvernessie · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I was literally convinced that Sidda's father was Jack until he died. This book was not at all what I expected. Depressing and not a fun read. Macabre really.

[psychedelicmicrobus · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked this book. Although it is the middle novel in a three-book series, it can stand alone as its own story. It's one of those stories about the complicated relationships between a mother and a daughter, the sort of thing I can relate to. It took me a few chapters to really get into it, but I think that overall, it's very good.

[coolpinkone · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a book of mothers and daughters. Of best friends and secrets. It will make you laugh and cry. A great summer read. It is ten times better than the movie.

[madamejeanie · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

While each of the Ya-Yas have a history and a story to be told, it ismainly the story of Viviane Abbott Walker and her oldest daughter,Siddalee, and how they manage to cope with and get past a particularlypainful episode when Vivi cracks up and attacks her children beforegoing away to "the hospital that nobody calls a hospital." As Vivi putsit, "I dropped my basket and couldn't pick it up again." To Siddalee,and her siblings, it was a moment that shaped the whole rest of theirlives. The "bad time" that they all remember more vividly than thethousands of good times they'd shared with their sparkling mother andher friends. The basic story is about how the Ya-Yas tenderly remindSiddalee of those good times and explain the truth about the bad one.The characters in this book are real, fully fleshed out people withcomplex relationships and deep secrets. But they are never morose,never maudlin. The humor is sharp and never lets up, but there is painhere, too, the kind that only abused children understand. The so-called"cycle of abuse" is displayed in a very matter of fact manner, but it ishardly the focal point of Vivi's life. She is one of the mostflamboyant and likable characters I've ever found in fiction.

[xmaystarx · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Looking back I realize the detail of this book aren't very memorable. It was fun reading, nice and light.

[keywestnan · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book was intensely irritating on multiple fronts. 1) Not all that well written. 2) Full of gender cliches. 3) There were a lot more but it's been 10 years since I read this for a book group so I can't remember. Other women in my group really related. Not me. Maybe it's a Southern thing. Or an alcoholic mom thing.

[portialong · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was surprised that I enjoyed this book as much as I did (I don't usually read "chick books"). Strong and eccentric characters, compelling writing style, fast-paced but with sufficient depth - a good Sunday read.

[cindyloumn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

LOVED it. I had heard lots of stuff about this book, but never believed it. Now I know it was true!! It was great. Great women characters. Much different then I imagined. hated to have it end!

[nessreendiana_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found it very painful and real. It got me thinking about my mother, what her life is like, and how, the little I know about her are things I only assumed. It also only intensified my fear of motherhood.

[karieh_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The only thing better than reading Wells's beautiful prose is listening to her read it. (Which is how I heard about her in the first place - she was reading part of her book in an interview.)

[vegaheim · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

saw movie first, wanted to read book. easy read, good writing. also read ya'yas in bloom

[estellen_4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The follow-up was much better - this one is slightly sentimental and only touches on the psyche of the Ya-yas

[drsyko_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Out of the literally thousands of books I have read, this one is in my top five favorites. It is beautifully written, with phenomenal character development, a fascinating plot, and an overall emotional tone that is very powerful and very moving. I cannot imagine that there is a woman on the planet who cannot relate in some way to the women in this book. There are moments in this book that are simply breathtaking and at times I was laughing and crying at the same time when reading it. It is a supremely satisfying read. The book follows the amazing friendship of these women from when they are small children until they are women facing their own mortality. Wells is able to make each of them a fully realized person, and because of this you will find yourself struggling with how you feel about them since like real women they are capable of both amazing acts of love and selfishness. In fact, this book has had such an impact on women that Ya-Ya Sisterhood clubs have sprung up literally all over the world. If you are looking for a fun, mild-mannered beach read, this is not it. This is a sweeping, epic, very powerful story and if it doesn't stir at least some deep longing and emotion in you, you had better check your pulse to make sure you're still alive.

[jeyra_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A book that explores the complexities of the mother-daughter dynamic and uses fascinatingly complex characters to do it. More than worth the read. Some sexual content and language.

[bexaplex · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Siddalee Walker, a newly renowned theater director, gets disowned by revealing some none-too-flattering details of family life to the New York Times. Her mother's friends, the Ya-Yas, repair the relationship by filling in some missing details. The narrative is evenly split between Vivi's life and Sidda's.The forcefulness of the story certainly comes from the sections about Vivi. Sidda's are more prose-y, reflective, and there's a lot of breathing. Together they make a good counterpoint.

[drruth_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Engaging, funny novel about four women's friendship and its effects on each other and their children. The voice is delightful, varying from hysterically funny to heartbreaking.

[magst_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a book for anyone who is a mother and anyone who is a daughter. It's about insight and perspective, love and forgiveness, and ultimately, about the redemptive (life-giving) nature of the relationships between mother and daughter and women friends. I loved every moment of reading this book. You will too

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A sweet story. Interesting reflection of two generations of women and their growing up.

[lisamaria_c · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In a way I feel like I'm being stingy giving this only three and a half stars. This is the last book on a list of over twenty I've tried from a chicklit/women's fiction recommendation list. Style-wise, this is at the top. I'd say that, along with The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing, this was the only book listed that had the quality that approaches literary fiction--it's lyrical at times, witty, quotable, with a narrative that mixes first and third person, letters and newspaper clippings from the scrapbook of "Ya-Ya-rabilia." It's a novel that celebrates a friendship of nearly 60 years from 1934 to 1993, and a rocky mother/daughter relationship. It's also about forgiveness, the subject of one of the three quotations that front the book that tells us we all "need to forgive and be forgiven every day, every hour." That could make for a very moving book, but I remained unmoved because I absolutely hated the central character, the "Queen" of the "Ya-Ya Sisterhood," Vivi Walker. When the book begins in 1993, she's just cut her daughter, Sidda, out of her life for the crime of telling the New York Times "lies" about how Vivi beat her with a belt. They're not lies though, as we learn just pages in. They're not even "exaggerated" as Ya-Ya sister Necie claims to Sidda. They're minimized. Vivi beat ten-year-old Sidda and her younger sister and two brothers with a belt until they were bloody. Sidda still bears the physical (and emotional) scars thirty years later. And, as we learn just a few pages in, to the present day Vivi blames Sidda for not stopping her. Sadly, so does Sidda. And not only is Vivi still drinking all these years later after her abuse of her children fueled by drink, pages into the book in the present day of the novel, she's handing over a Bloody Mary to her fellow senior citizen Ya-Ya Teensy for her to drink as Teensy drives the car.*SPOILERS BE HERE BELOW IF YOU CARE* Sidda is constantly begging her mother for forgiveness through out the book, celebrating her mother's friendship with the Ya-Ya sisterhood, excusing and worshiping her mother for her "vivid" and "vivacious" spirit. It's all very "Ya-Ya-No." (Ya-Ya speak for "pathetic" we're told.) Yes, if you've reached 40 years old, it's way past time to let go of the anger and stop blaming your parents for your problems. But that's different from forgiveness and reconciliation. To really forgive, the person who hurt you needs to be sorry and say so and stop hurting you. It sucks sure if they die and never give you that, and if they don't, you have to move on. But if that doesn't happen that doesn't mean they should get a pass just because they'll be the only parents you'll ever have. Not when the abuse is this extreme and still ongoing. I mean, I know. I've read that Philip Larken poem "This Be the Verse." It's true. Parents screw you up, but they were screwed up first. They're human. And the book makes Vivi understandable, and therefore potentially forgivable. But I don't think she (and the book) come anywhere near earning the Hallmark moment ending.

[bookdivasreads · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The book is well-written and definitely has interesting themes but I just couldn't get into it. Perhaps I was suckered by the hype and simply expected too much from the book and the author.

[tulip_367 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved getting to know Vivi, first through her daughter’s eyes, then more directly with recounts of her past. The themes of the book like mother/daughter relationship, female friendship and childhood impact are very common but made so interesting in this book through colorful and multi facet characters. Excellent writing style.The thing that did not work so well for me: the very Hollywoodian end, with the 180 degree change in Vivi/Sidda relationship and Connor’s character depicted as the perfect guy.

[bookconcierge · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read both [book:Little Altars Everywhere6697] and this book in sequence. I really enjoyed them, but they are at times heart-wrenching and difficult to read. They definitely should be read in sequence because the second (this one) explains much of Vivi's behavior and reminds us that while we are all products of our up-bringing, we are also all capable of changing patterns, of overcoming our trials and of forgiving (not necessarily forgetting) our parents for their less-than-perfect love.

[danamburnett · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Any woman that had a best friend growing up, that one person that knew everything about you and loved you anyway, will appreciate the friendship described in this novel. Wells writes beautifully wounded characters that are flawed and honest.

[isabelx_21 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The story of Siddalee Walker and her relationship with her mother and her mother's life-long friends, the Ya-Yas. Very enjoyable.