[.ca] The Ya-Ya Boxed Set (Little Alters Everywhere, Divine ... (ISBN 0060932058)

From Amazon.com:
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

divine secrets of the yaya sisterhood:
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.

Wonderfully True To the Heart:
The book Divine Secrets touched my heart in a way like no other. I wanted my mother to read it in hopes of becoming closer to her. This book kept me awake for hours at night.

READ THIS BOOK!:
Rebecca Wells did an awesome job at writing this book. She's created lovable characters for everyone. Rebecca has made the charcters come so alive, it's like they're your friends. When they're having a bad time, so are you. When they're happy, so are you. This book is really good for mothers and daughters to read together.

Loved Ya-Ya, Liked Little Altars not quite as much:
Little Altars Everywhere pretty much takes away any sympathy you might have for the main character in Ya-Ya. I read SYYS first (even though it's the second book) and came away with the feeling that the main character was pretty self-centered. After reading LAE, I revised my opinion downward. Both books were good reads, though.

Boxed set allows reader to find out "all about the Walkers":
I was leant a well read dog-eared copy of 'Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood' a few years ago and came to know and love Rebecca Wells' style and story telling capabilities. Ms. Wells has the ability to capture a particular era and region of the country (the South) and make her characters come alive. The Ya-Yas are all about friendship, loyalty and some much darker and less admirable human traits as well. Some of the situations recounted in these two VERY different books about the Walker family will have the reader squirming with discomfort. For Rebecca Wells is intent on telling the whole story: the bad, the sad, the shocking, as well about the successes, the joys and a lot of giggles at the funnier side of human nature. When you have finished both volumes in this boxed set, you will have a really good idea of what makes a very complex set of family members (the Walkers) "tick". What keeps them together, what may tear them apart. The journey isn't going to be boring in Ms. Wells' talented hands. The story(stories) prove that being a "southern belle" isn't nearly as easy as you might think. I'm happy to have my own lovely boxed set, combining both volumes 'Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood' and 'Little Alters Everywhere', so I can revisit these fascinating people any time I want. My particular recommendation for the reader would be to read 'Divine Secrets' first and then flesh out the history of the clan with 'Little Alters'. But I have wondered many times why Ms. Wells published the smaller, episodic 'Little Alters' first. So those uninitiated into Ya-Ya-hood, may wish to read them in order of the published date. If you do, PLEASE let me know what you think about the experience. I'd be interested in your opinions.