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Ya Yas #3

Ya-Yas in Bloom

rebecca wells judith ivey

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An emotionally charged addition to Rebecca Wells' award-winning bestseller Little Altars Everywhere and #1 New York Times bestseller Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood , Ya-Yas in Bloom reveals the roots of the Ya-Yas' friendship in the 1930s and roars through sixty years of marriage, children, and hair-raising family secrets. When four-year-old Teensy Whitman prisses one time too many and stuffs a big old pecan up her nose, she sets off the chain of events that lead Vivi, Teensy, Caro, and Necie to become true sister-friends. Ya-Yas in Bloom shows us the Ya-Yas in love and at war with convention. Through crises of faith and hilarious lapses of parenting skills, brushes with alcoholism and glimpses of the dark reality of racial bigotry, the Ya-Ya values of unconditional loyalty, high style, and Cajun sass shine through at a time when the dynamic web of sisterhood is the only safety net strong enough to hold families together and endure. Performed by Judith Ivey

0 pages, Audio CD

First published May 3,2005
Series
Ya Yas

This edition

Format
0 pages, Audio CD
Published
March 29, 2005 by HarperAudio
ISBN
9780694525744
ASIN
069452574X
Language
English

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About the author

Profile Image for rebecca wells

rebecca wells

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Rebecca Wells was born and raised in Alexandria, Louisiana. “I grew up,” she says, “in the fertile world of story-telling, filled with flamboyance, flirting, futility, and fear.” Surrounded by Louisiana raconteurs, a large extended family, and Our Lady of Prompt Succor's Parish, Rebecca's imagination was stimulated at every turn. Early on, she fell in love with thinking up and acting in plays for her siblings—the beginnings of her career as an actress and writer for the stage. She recalls her early influences as being the land around her, harvest times, craw-fishing in the bayou, practicing piano after school, dancing with her mother and brothers and sister, and the close relationship to her black “mother” who cleaned for the Wells household. She counts black music and culture from Louisiana as something that will stay in her body's memory forever.

In high school, she read Walt Whitman's “I Sing the Body Electric,” which opened her up to the idea that everything in life is a poem, and that, as she says, “We are not born separately from one another.” She also read “Howl,” Allen Ginsberg's indictment of the strangling consumer-driven American culture he saw around him. Acting in school and summer youth theater productions freed Rebecca to step out of the social hierarchies of high school and into the joys of walking inside another character and living in another world.

The day after she graduated from high school, Rebecca left for Yellowstone National Park, where she worked as a waitress. It was an introduction to the natural glories of the park—mountains, waterfalls, hot springs, and geysers—as well as to the art of hitchhiking.

Rebecca graduated from Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, where she studied theater, English, and psychology. She performed in many college plays, but also stepped outside the theater department to become awakened to women's politics. During this time she worked as a cocktail waitress--once accidentally kicking a man in the shins when he slipped a ten-dollar bill down the front of her dress—and began keeping a journal after reading Anais Nin, which she has done ever since.

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Rating(4 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
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100 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
JotarokunGamer
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I have kind of mixed feelings about the book. While I love the characters, and have enjoyed all three of the books about them, this book left me with some feelings that I need to sit and think on. While reading the previous two books, I remember thinking how wonderful to have such a close-knit group of friends to form a life-long circle of support and safety. In this book, the vignettes about two other local women (a mother and daughter) made me think about the exclusivity of the group, even across generations. I thought back to the previous two books, trying to remember how the Ya-Yas treated those outside their cohesive group. I just couldn't remember, and have given away the books, so couldn't check. I felt really sad for those two women, and for all women and girls who are on the outside of a group like the Ya-Yas, longing to be a part of something so special. I was glad that at least one of the Ya-Yas showed great compassion to these women after all was said and done (trying not to reveal too much so I don't spoil the story.) All in all, it was a pretty good read.
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enix18
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Critics generally agree that the bloom may have left the Ya-Yas. The novel, a collection of vignettes about "the time that [insert: _

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JoKeR_95
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I don't remember that much about it honestly... I need to re-read.
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jaekyungssgf
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I enjoyed. Definitely advisable to read the previous book first, but I liked these further episodes in the characters' lives or the deeper detail on some of the earlier ones.

Wells deftly evokes the atmosphere of Louisiana - its weather, its culture, its landscape -- and develops her books' characters with skill.
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Ancturus
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I loved Divine Secrets, so I knew I'd love this one as well. I was right. Ya-Yas are back, as older women, with children and grandchildren. This book sort of brackets the time period of Divine Secrets. It tells of the beginnings of the friendship, when the Ya Yas were children, and then comes full circle to the friendships of their children and grandchildren. This is a deeper book than I remember Divine Secrets being. Excellent.
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Playcool
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I adore the Ya Yas. I have read this and the other two books about them before, seen the movie countless times, and often wished to BE a Ya Ya. This was my first time audio-ing one. Judith Ivey was the perfect narrator. Her accent was spot on, she did the voices (which I usually hate on audio) perfectly, and if she wasn't tipsy when she was relaying a story from Vivi's POV, then she is one of the best actresses I have ever heard!

I actually prefer this book and Little Altars Everywhere: A Novel to Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Divine has a plot running through the chapters, whereas this one and Altars just gives us glimpses back in time to a different age. That's what I crave. The stories she shows us of how these girls love, support and care for one another through their childhood and entire lives. For every horrid, irresponsible thing they did, there was an equally wonderful, loving, uplifting action. Life is not constant, steady or routine. How can we survive if we try to be those things?

The Ya Yas always remind me of my mama and aunts. I have so many pictures of them pregnant, playing dice (instead of the Ya Ya Bourre) a cigarette in one hand and a drink in the other! They didn't know it was wrong. They may not have done what we think is best for our children now, but they sure loved us the best they could. As flawed as the Ya Yas are, they are loyal, devoted lovers. What Wells shows us through them, is that we can only love another wholeheartedly when we have given in and loved who we are. Done our best with what we have and given up appologizing. Be yourself. You are the only one that knows how.

Ya Yas forever!
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koiichiwa
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Ya Ya Continues

Always loved reading about he Ya Yas. Beautiful story of the sisterhood being passed on from generation to generation. A story of family and its bond that never breaks.
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