The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder by Rebecca Wells
Thursday July 9, 2009
Rebecca Wells (of Ya-Ya Sisterhood fame) is back with another coming of age novel that takes place in Louisiana. I loved Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, but Wells' last book, Ya-Yas in Bloom, was the sort of sequel that would only appeal to those who were desperate for more of the original story. I'm excited that Wells is back with some new characters, but skeptical about whether The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder could be another Divine Secrets.
Will you be picking up Wells' new book? Let us know what you think.
Cover Photo Courtesy HarperCollins
I just discovered that the yaya sisterhood author writes a love story like nobody I have ever found. How did I not know this? Just look at the photo on the back of her latest book! What a gloriously lovely woman.
She brings you straight into the relationship between the hero and heroine, all the way from the time they are seven years old until the time they meet again in mid-age. Her writing is just so filled with the sights and sounds and scents of Louisiana. It took me to a completely different country. I have just never read anybody who knew how to introduce me to a whole world of characters, their families, the food, the music. Wells brings us to the heart of Louisiana, and when she does, she brings us into the heart of her heroine, Calla Lily Ponder and into our hearts like nobody else I know.
My best girlfriend, who is also a romance maniac, gave this book to me. She said she was also a big fan of Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. I read The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder because Connie (who for once sprung for the cost of the hardcover book) told me that her group of girlfriends that get together once a month to eat, drink, laugh and cry were so influenced by Rebecca Wells’s yayas. As young girls they gave themselves secret names in an all girl secret ceremony and go on to be friends for life – like Connie and I are friends for life.
I also read it because I had seen the yaya movie and loved it. Now, lo and behold, I find out that Rebecca, who has been holding out on us, can write a romantic story that shines like the full moon, which Rebecca writes about as she tells us this story of Calla Lily and her man.
I know I’m rattling on and on here, but my heart is so filled with hope for love for all of us that I just can’t stop. I think I’d better go read that book again!
To me the REAL love story was between Call Lily and her Mother M’Dear……..I have NEVER had to stop reading because of tears before I read this.