Summer Reading

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

I just finished reading “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood,” by Rebecca Wells. This is one of my favorite books of all time. Some of you may remember the 2002 movie that starred Sandra Bullock, Ellen Burstyn, James Garner, and Ashley Judd. Usually, I read the book first and then see the movie. In this case, I saw the movie first and adored it, so I read the book. The characters in the movie were so real that when I read the book Sandra Bullock’s image and voice popped into my head whenever Siddalee Walker spoke. As the movie’s characters were such a great adaptation to the book’s characters, I can easily go between the book and the movie and enjoy both as an extension of each other—something that almost never happens for me.

Siddalee Walker struggles with life and love, because of the damage that she suffered as a child through the unhappy marriage of her narcissistic alcoholic mother and somewhat-absent father. She calls off her engagement to Connor McGill and goes off to a cabin to figure out what she should do. Her mother’s best friends, the Ya-Yas, have been there her mother’s whole life and through her mother’s scrapbook, stories, and their genuine love of each other and Sidda try to explain the tragedies that shaped her mother, Vivi Walker, into the complex creature that Sidda alternatively loves and hates.

The intricate relationships between the Ya-Yas, their husbands, their children, and the Louisiana social life are so thrilling and real. What I like so much about it is that despite the hardships, they stick up for each other without question. The relationship between the women may be crazy and dysfunctional at times, but in the end it is what sustains them through their lives.

Have you read a book that you love and want to discuss? Please comment.