This is a book I found painful. It is well written and in some ways that makes it harder to take....it is easy to read about horrific child abuse and the power the abusive parent holds over even the well-respected adult decades later. Worth reading, but hard to take...especailly if you are an empathic reader. On the other hand, perhaps we should all be more sensitve to the long-lasting trama of physical abuse at the hands of a well-loved parent.

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ISBN 0060928336 - A #1 New York Times Bestseller, Divine Secrets proves, yet again, that marketing can make a mountain out of any molehill. I really WANTED to like this book even half as much as the marketing told me I should, but I just couldn't work up that much enthusiasm about it.

Sidda is engaged and the wedding date nears when she freaks out, realizing she doesn't "know how to love" and runs off to contemplate her belly button. Blaming her lack of "knowing how to love" on her mother, Vivi, who Sidda recently offended - in the New York Times, no less! - Sidda finds herself adrift without the anchor that Vivi and her mother's friends had been for most of her life. Believing that the answer lies with these women, Sidda is fortunate when her mother relents just enough to send her a scrapbook of Ya-Ya-rablia. Sadly, little scraps don't tell the whole story and Sidda can't piece it together without help.

After the introduction of each scrap, Wells puts it in context for the reader, telling the story of Teensy, Caro, Necie and Vivi - the Ya-Yas. Sidda is NOT aware of these stories, except in rare instances when a character talks TO her or it is her own memory, which makes for some mild confusion. Sidda has to wade through the mess in her head and the scraps in the book in order to feel that she can love - and be loved.

Wells felt the need to subtly point to the fact that Sidda's fiance looks like Vivi's one true love, Jack, several times, but it is never clearly said and therefore seems pointless - most especially since the only person who doesn't seem to remark upon it is Sidda. Oddly, the only thing about the book that sticks in my head after finally finishing it is that every exaggeration was "eighty four thousand" - "saw it eighty four thousand times", "dyeing eighty four thousand eggs", etc.

Fans of chick-lit will like this book. Others, like me, will find themselves referring to it as "the blah-blah sisterhood". The story of the Ya-Yas themselves, without a character like Sidda in the way, might have been more interesting. On the up side for me, I did rather enjoy seeing religion portrayed as one of the worst evils in the story. Not awful, just not worth more than the current used price of one penny (plus shipping).

Very much enjoyed this book. It may take a few pages to get "into" it, but give it a one chapter chance, and you will be hooked!

A funny Poignant read

Much better than the movie!

I didn't want to read this book (or Little Altars Everywhere) but finally did and was so glad I gave in!

This book made me laugh, cry, get angry, worry . . . It's the story of 4 young women growing up in Louisiana, and their children. Touches on race, social class, abuse, lost love, family.

I simply could not get into this book. I read about five pages, and gave up. That was a year ago, and this book has been sitting on my shelf ever since.

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