Customer Reviews

The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder: A Novel

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

Having read the Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood and enjoying that thoroughly, I really expected better of The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder. J. D. Rowan's review says most of what I want to say about lack of story development and characterization in this novel. As I was preparing to write my review, I saw that someone said Rebecca Wells was suffering from Lyme disease while writing this novel. If that's the reason this book is so poorly written, then it's the fault of the publisher and/or editor for not waiting for rewrites. This book may have lost Rebecca Wells many fans. I know I'm one.

This novel is like a first written manuscript with no editing. It's a surface told story--there's no depth to the characters, plot, storyline, etc. Major incidents are thrown into the storyline, allowing the reader to believe that, for example, racism is a huge part of the story; however, that's never discussed again. The story is told, not shown, and the reader has a difficult time getting through the book. If I hadn't purchased this book based on Wells' previous novel, I wouldn't finish reading it.

Anyone else who loved the Ya-Yas understands how excited I was to see a new novel by Rebecca Wells. I dove right in and was prepared to love any character created by the author who brought us Vivi and Sidda. But I wasn't two chapters in before I was scratching my head trying to figure out what on earth I was reading. It reads like a middle-school girl trying to imitate Rebecca Wells' writing style, and not in a good way. About the crappy editing- there is a difference between editing the copy and editing the STORY, and it doesn't appear that there was much of either going on. I can live with typos, as annoying as they are - but we are introduced to a character in a later chapter that we already met back in chapter 2, but they're described as if for the first time. It's the same with situations and the characters' histories. So you're reading along thinking "I KNOW this already." Aside from that, there are so many details that are irrelevant and distracting and have nothing to do with the point (whatever it was.) Plus, I never felt as if I cared whether I kept reading or not. I gave up a third of the way in. As I was stuck in a cross-country flight at the time with plenty of time on my hands, that's saying a lot. Don't bother with this one.

Okay, I enjoyed The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. This book, however, is a waste of time. Wells breaks the basic rule of good story telling. She tells the reader what happens without ever showing any characterization, motivation, emotion, or anything except page after page of comically rapid plot development. Consequently, the book reads like a high school freshman's essay on "My Imaginary Life." When the title character shows up for her wedding she is greated by a brass fanfare, and when her husband carries her over the threshold of their new home her friends have already put everything away and she doesn't even have to unpack. These type of events appear almost on every page and are almost always followed by an exclamation point to show just how gosh-gee-whiz wonderful life is!


The main character suffers through three traumatic events, but somehow everything keeps coming up roses. We don't know why, because all the characters in the book are completely one-dimensional stock figures. Several characters are introduced for absolutely no reason. Cally Lily didn't really need two brothers -- they did nothing for the book. Moreover, we even learn the name of the oldest brother's wife, but she never appears again.

The editing was slapdash. First Calla Lily is saving up to live in New Orleans for three months for beauty school, yet within a few chapters beauty school suddenly lasts for a year. She puts her drunken best friend to bed to sleep it off and on the next page she wraps her in a quilt to sleep on the floor. The description and explanation of the Catholic marriage ceremony was both anachronistic and incorrect at the same time.

It was truly a terribly written book. I only finished it so that I could write this review!

I was shocked when I logged in and read all of the terrible reviews of this book. Really, truly shocked! I completely connected with the characters in the story and I loved the way it was written. I criend harder than I have ever cried in a book (and I'm not someone who cries when I'm reading...) and I was uplifed by the positive messages throughout the story. I was reminded of my oh-so-wise and wonderful late grandmother who spoke just the way this book was written. I loved "The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder" and I hope many others give it a try. I found it to be a truly wonderful book!

Having read and loved Wells' "Ya-Ya Sisterhood" books, I couldn't wait to read this book after reading a synopsis. However, I quickly discovered that this book lacks the beautiful language and narrative that Wells' other books contain.
Everything about the book's plot and its characters is amateur; everything I was told not to do in my fiction writing classes could be found in this book. So many characters and details were pointless, and the amount of exclamation points used in Calla Lily's narrative was enough to make me puke. I wanted to like this book so badly, but right around the time that Calla throws herself at her gay teacher, I lost my desire to finish reading. I did finish, fueled by pure boredom at work, and the ending was trite and predictable.
If you like a quick and easy read that's not too intellectually stimulating, then I suggest you read this book when it comes to your local library. It's not worth spending money on.

As others have posted, this is a let-down after Ya-Ya Sisterhood and Little Alters Everywhere, and it reads like a light little romance novel trying to be more than it is (or even a student attempt). Magical realism is attempted but failed. Major themes are attempted but failed. The characters are one-dimensional. A few funny one-liners don't salvage the book, which evoked no laugh-out-loud moments or tears from me. There's just no "there" there.

This book is terrible - I was so disappointed as I loved the Ya-Ya books and was looking forward to reading something as good. Very little effort seems to have been made to edit, nor to have a real plot. It's just a bunch of stereotypes slapped together with some very false sounding dialogue. I read an interview with Rebecca Wells in which she said that she discovered what she had to do to make money - she was speaking about bartending but it seems the same is true of writing. I feel betrayed by Rebecca Wells but also by her editor and publisher - they're professionals, they should have done something about it - like refusing it. I read that Rebecca Wells was suffering from Lyme's Disease when she wrote it - I can believe that. It must have been very difficult but it wasn't worth it.

My main feeling when I read this book was sadness at seeing such a formerly fine author turn out such a lackluster book. It really deserves only one star, but I gave it two because I know Ms. Wells was battling Lyme Disease while writing The Crowning Glory of Cally Lily Ponder.

I loved her first two books, Little Alters Everywhere and The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Her third book, Ya-Yas in Bloom was just passable.

The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder does have one or two good moments, but overall I found it to be boring and poorly written. The only character I really cared about was Cally Lily; the others were simply too one dimensional and even Calla had huge gaps in character development.

If you are a fan of Ms. Wells and you simply have to read this book, save your money until it is published in paperback, or check it out from the library. It's simply not worth the price of a hardcover.

I loved The Devine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood as did many others. I was so in hopes this would be as good. It isn't. It is entertaining but the story lacks any surprises or depth. It is more of a "girl book" for the summer.

Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood and Little Alters Everywhere are my favorite books and I have read them over and over. That said, I can't believe how inferior this book is. It's so fluffy. There's no meat. Hugely disappointed. I'm still trying to finish the thing.