The Ya-Ya Boxed Set [BOX SET] (Paperback)

~ Rebecca Wells (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Little Altars Everywhere first introduces readers to Siddalee Walker, her mother Viviane, and Viviane's unforgettable pals, the Ya-Yas--as wild a bunch of born-and-bred steel magnolias as you will ever run across in literature. Set in Louisiana and narrated by various members of the Walker family, Little Altars tells the tragicomic tale of Siddalee's magnificently dysfunctional clan. There is hard-drinking Viviane, who alternately adores her children and abuses them, and Daddy Big Shep, who is inarticulate, alcoholic, and can't quite say what he means and seldom means what he yells. Sidda's siblings are a mess, the family servants are badly treated, and though Rebecca Wells includes many hilarious set pieces throughout, even the Ya-Yas can't completely overcome the dark core at the center of this novel.

Wells continues the saga of Sidda and Vivi Walker in her follow-up, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, and this time the mood is considerably lightened as she takes her characters back in time via a collection of letters, clippings, and scrapbooks--the "divine secrets" of the title. Here a younger, more sympathetic Vivi shares the limelight with her Ya-Ya pals, Teensy, Caro, and Necie. From skinny-dipping in the town water tower to boozing it up at the spring cotillion, these Southern-fried hell-raisers prove what everyone has always suspected--that "it's so much fun being a bad girl!" But you don't have to be bad to enjoy Rebecca Wells's take on family, friendship, and the ties that bind for a lifetime. --Margaret Prior

From The Washington Post

"A very entertaining and, ultimately, deeply moving novel about the complex bonds between mother and daughter."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (April 7, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060932058
• ISBN-13: 978-0060932053
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #279,142 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must read ! Pour-Your-Heart-Out, Amazing book!, November 21, 1999

By	Jennie (New York) - See all my reviews

Dear Fellow Readers, I have read both of Rebecca Wells two books, and was utterly amazed by both. I first picked up "Little Altars Everywhere" because of it's intriguing cover, but once I got past the first page, I never put it down. The book tells of a everlasting friendship between a group of women, who call themselves the "Ya-Ya's". It is such a change to read a book about a friendship that actually lasts throughout the years, and it is just an uplifting, amazing book. It is funny, and sad, it is serious, and enlighting, at the same time. It is just a wonderful set of books, that you do not want to miss reading in your lifetime. There is not enough words of praise to compliment this book. My only complaint is that there are only two of them. Be prepared to feel like you are a member of their family, and be prepared to feel a sorrow when the book comes to an end. If you don't read these two books, you are only cheating yourself out on, two of the greatest peices of literature I have read in a long time.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Universal Theme from a Southern Author, January 6, 2000

By	"ladymariko" (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

Many say that you can't understand the intricacies of this book unless you are from the south, but I would disagree. As a transplanted southerner (originally from the Pacific Northwest)I would still put this book high on my list of books that convey what I like to call "universal truths". Through all of the emotion and tradition of the Ya-Ya's the thing that touched me most was the conveyance of true friendship with unconditional love. It also offered insightful perspective to daughters about the need to "ride out" the waves of the mother daughter relationship. After I finished, I immediately sent the box set to my mother and little sister. So, give us notherners and transplanted southerners a little slack...love is love, friendship is friendship and mothers are mothers regardless of location in relation to the Mason-Dixon line, and Wells has done an excellent job of leading us through the journey.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars divine secrets of the yaya sisterhood, January 6, 2000

By	elaine (los angeles,ca) - See all my reviews

it's the most amazing book i've read on friendships and mother/daughter relationships.any one who has a friend from their childhood should read this and cherish the words that are in it.