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30th out of 317 books
—
512 voters
The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder
by
Rebecca Wells (Goodreads Author)
Known for her beloved Ya-Ya books ("Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood," "Little Altars Everywhere," and "Ya-Yas in Bloom"), Rebecca Wells has helped women name, claim, and celebrate their shared sisterhood for over a decade. "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" held the top of the "New York Times" bestseller list for sixty-eight weeks, became a knockout feature fi...more
Hardcover, 395 pages
Published
July 7th 2009
by Harper
(first published January 1st 2009)
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Say what you will about schmaltz but I think Wells is a good storyteller. I don't expect her to produce haute literature. I don't expect her books to address the great problems of the age...I just want a good story and I got one.
I admit, being the jaded character I am, if a piece of writing can make me tear up, I'll give it a thumbs up. It may be a cheap shot on Wells' part to zero in on a woman's emotions, but hey, she's a woman too.
What's wrong with a good old-fashioned love tale, anyway? We d...more
I admit, being the jaded character I am, if a piece of writing can make me tear up, I'll give it a thumbs up. It may be a cheap shot on Wells' part to zero in on a woman's emotions, but hey, she's a woman too.
What's wrong with a good old-fashioned love tale, anyway? We d...more
Fans of Wells'tales of the "ya-ya sisterhood " will like this book. If it had been written by a new come-out author ,it would have been sent back to editing. In parts the writing is lyrical and in others just hurried and choppy. The story which can be moving in sections can become just downright preach-y in others. It seems that the author had a beginning point and an end point and was going to get to it in the pre-subscibed number of pages without regard to flow and therefore you never just fal...more
Mar 08, 2013
Sandra
added it
Recommends it for:
romantics
Recommended to Sandra by:
no one
Shelves:
romance,
other-cultures
Lovely, touching romance set in the South, with sections in New Orleans where Calla Lily Ponder goes to recover from both the death of her mother, and a seemingly unrequited love with Tuck, her high school flame. There she pursues her gay teacher, Ricky, only to discover what a wonderful friend both he and his partner Steve can be. She rescues her troubled friend, Sukey, who finally pulls herself up from alcoholism in New Orleans, while Calla Lily is learning the hairdressing trade her mother, M...more
I love Rebecca Wells’ writing. The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is one of a few books that I can read over and over again and still enjoy. Having never lived in Louisiana, I don’t know how accurate her depictions of the area are…but nevertheless, I was sucked in from the first page. I had high expectations for The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder having enjoyed Wells’ other books, and happily, there were traces of Wells throughout it.
But, unfortunately, I have to echo what some othe...more
But, unfortunately, I have to echo what some othe...more
This book could have been titled The Flowering of a Southern Belle. Calla Lily Ponder narrates her history by gathering the sprigs of her life in rural Louisiana from age eight in 1961 until she reaps a nearly improbable ending as a 31-year-old in 1984. Within her two-decade bouquet of budding and blooming into full womanhood, Calla endures parental attachment and loss, adolescent attraction and loss, and marital bliss and loss. But not to worry, no one can nip this flower in the bud.
The Moon La...more
The Moon La...more
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This is the story of Calla Lily Ponder who grew up in the small town of La Luna nestled along the Mississippi River in Louisiana. We meet her family and friends, but most importantly her mother, whom she calls M' Dear. Call Lily has a wonderful loving relationship with her mom. They are best friends as well as mother and daughter. Everything Calla Lila is and grows up to become, is due to her mother and their special relationship. It is because of M'Dear that Calla Lily chooses to become a beaut...more
From My Blog...
The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder by Rebecca Wells is a beautiful tale of love and its many forms. The novel, narrated by Calla Lily Ponder, begins in La Luna, Louisiana and the reader learns about various adventures and life-changing events that transpire through Calla Lily's childhood and adolescence. After high school she moves to New Orleans and another chapter of her life begins. Calla Lily takes the reader through over two decades of her life, during the most profound...more
The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder by Rebecca Wells is a beautiful tale of love and its many forms. The novel, narrated by Calla Lily Ponder, begins in La Luna, Louisiana and the reader learns about various adventures and life-changing events that transpire through Calla Lily's childhood and adolescence. After high school she moves to New Orleans and another chapter of her life begins. Calla Lily takes the reader through over two decades of her life, during the most profound...more
When I started reading this book I was a little leery when the first chapter came from the perspective of the moon. I really didn't want to read something "weird." However, once the story got going, I got drawn in pretty quickly. I loved that the book was told from the main character, Calla Lily's, perspective. I loved all the emotions that the book brought out in me, and found myself crying in a couple places.
There was a lot of talk about the "Moon Lady" which I thought was strange and probably...more
There was a lot of talk about the "Moon Lady" which I thought was strange and probably...more
This was a lovely book, and a delight to read...but it wasn't exactly "Little Altars Everywhere". It didn't deal with that kind of complex family psychology, nor did it tackle Tough and Thorny Issues. I loved being in Calla Lily Ponder's world while reading it. Despite the tragedies and deaths that happened to her, Calla Lily always looks on the bright side, after all. But even though it touched on the violent racism of the South in the mid-20th century, and the devastating loss of a mother from...more
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Quoting the first paragraph from 'The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder':
"I know the moon and the moon knows me. I am the moon and the moon is me. I am life itself. I am not who they think I am, that old white man with the long white hair whose judging eyes try to force fear into their very pores. I am the moon mother, and I hold my children on my lap, night and day, in the heat and in the shade. When they wake and when they sleep, I whisper to them: Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. The ones...more
"I know the moon and the moon knows me. I am the moon and the moon is me. I am life itself. I am not who they think I am, that old white man with the long white hair whose judging eyes try to force fear into their very pores. I am the moon mother, and I hold my children on my lap, night and day, in the heat and in the shade. When they wake and when they sleep, I whisper to them: Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. The ones...more
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Sep 10, 2009
Fenixbird SandS
marked it as to-read
Recommends it for:
heartfelt emotional, youth & earth signs
Recommended to Fenixbird by:
Lorihudeck, Jenny
when grieving there are no rights + wrongs...we are grieving several losses...Deals with crises & loss per author interview on Amazon.com Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060...
Another book by the author of the book-into-movie "Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood." Great to read she is still prolific & expressing beyond the ya ya...excerpt from Author interview (already credited): "When Calla Lilly is an infant M'Dear holds her up to the Moon and blesses her, promising that ev...more
Another book by the author of the book-into-movie "Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood." Great to read she is still prolific & expressing beyond the ya ya...excerpt from Author interview (already credited): "When Calla Lilly is an infant M'Dear holds her up to the Moon and blesses her, promising that ev...more
What a disappointment!!! I truly wanted to like this book... I read The Ya Ya Sisterhood and Little Altars Everywhere a few years back, and I remember loving them, so when I saw the author's newest book at the library, I grabbed it. As I read the first few chapters, I thought the book moved pretty slowly and was kind of schmaltzy. As I got farther along, I just found that the characters were cliche, and in my mind, many of Calla Lily's and her friends' quotes seemed very "Peggy Hill". It also se...more
Kathleen said: "Rebecca Wells is back and better than ever with The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder! Fans of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood be forewarned - I think that I may actually like Calla Lily more than the Ya'Ya's. I was charmed by page 2, in tears by page 6 and totally committed to Calla, La Luna and M'Dear by page 11.
Calla and her two brothers grow up in a loving family in the tiny hamlet of La Luna, LA. But the love and protection her family and friends provide as she grows up isn't enoug...more
Calla and her two brothers grow up in a loving family in the tiny hamlet of La Luna, LA. But the love and protection her family and friends provide as she grows up isn't enoug...more
Rebecca Wells is back and better than ever with The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder! Fans of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood be forewarned - I think that I may actually like Calla Lily more than the Ya'Ya's. I was charmed by page 2, in tears by page 6 and totally committed to Calla, La Luna and M'Dear by page 11.
Calla and her two brothers grow up in a loving family in the tiny hamlet of La Luna, LA. But the love and protection her family and friends provide as she grows up isn't enough to protect her f...more
Calla and her two brothers grow up in a loving family in the tiny hamlet of La Luna, LA. But the love and protection her family and friends provide as she grows up isn't enough to protect her f...more
I loved the Ya-Ya books so I was primed when I saw this book on audio at the library. I'm glad that I listened to the book rather than read it because the narrator caught the Cajun cadences which I would have missed on the printed page. This is the story of Calla Lily Ponder growing up in the tiny hamlet of La Luna, Louisiana surrounded by a loving family and endearing, if odd, town residents. But then this is the south and we would be disappointed without colorful characters. This is a book tha...more
One of Rebecca Wells' strengths is creating great titles; she also wrote The Divine Secrets fo the YaYa Sisterhood. But, I think the title was more compelling than the book. This story seemed a little over-written and slightly self-important, but I may have been influenced in my opinion since it was the 3rd book in a row that I had read about the South. I first read Pat Conroy's South of Broad, and was highly disappointed ( review to follow), and then I read The Help, which made a strong impress...more
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On page 14, Calla Lily's mother says, "Calla, every day, you have to try to improve your angel-eyesight". As Calla grows up and experiences joys, sorrows, disappointments, heart breaks, embarrassment, confidence, love, and everything else, the theme of trying to have angel-eyesight trumpets strong. Calla is a survivor-she keeps paddling, and when she reaches a time when she can't paddle, she has friends to pick up the paddle for her. While I liked parts of this book I didn't buy into the relatio...more
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If I could give this 3.5 stars, I would. I admit it, I LOVED "Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood" (the book, not the movie), so I was excited to read another novel by Rebecca Wells. I figured it would be much the same as "Divine", and I was right, which was perfect for me. There are two things that really struck me about this book:
#1: A big chunk of the plot centers around offshore drilling in Louisiana, which I thought was weird given the current crisis in the Gulf. Note this book was writt...more
#1: A big chunk of the plot centers around offshore drilling in Louisiana, which I thought was weird given the current crisis in the Gulf. Note this book was writt...more
I bought this book because of the Good Reads interview with Rebecca Wells. While I was continually repulsed by Wells’ saccharine attempt at portraying the nostalgic environ that only the Deep South can afford, I also found myself inexplicably incapable of putting the book down. The book begins in the late 50’s, I think (maybe the early 60’s), and it was almost as if Wells was trying to mimic a mainstream author of that time period. Her descriptions were so overly romanticized that even the scene...more
For the most part, I agree with Cyndi Michener's review, although the Moon Lady "stuff" didn't bother me. Perhaps because I know a few people whose beliefs are very similar, so it wasn't a stretch for me. For the most part, I found "Crowning Glory of Calla Lily" to be entertaining, but disappointing. Especially in comparison to "Ya-Ya Sisterhood." It didn't have me reflecting on my childhood, it didn't have me laughing out loud or thinking of my dear friends. I did think alot places in New Orlea...more
Again, a book lent to me by my neighbor who is a big reader and buyer of all of her books that she so kindly shares with me. I had read Rebecca Wells' very popular "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" and I remember enjoying it though being disturbed by one mother/daughter relationship where the mother was never around for the child and knowing how much girls and young women need their mother's, this stuck with the most and I think the author did a good job with the charachter development in...more
Are there really places where people have names like Calla Lily Ponder? Rebecca Wells tells a story about a place like that, and it got me wondering. In this place, Calla has family and friends who dance at the drop of a hat, eat gumbo, and grow up strong. Calla's mother is one of those fictional wonders - strong, mystical and flawless. Calla and company face troubles in the book, to be sure, but I felt certain that after all that dancing and gumbo, and with the Moon Lady on their side, there wa...more
Let me start by saying that this is the first book by Rebecca Wells that I have read. She writes beautiful, lyrical prose that meanders along like the river that is central to this tale.
When I first started this novel, I noted that it was beautifully written by slow moving. As I spent more time getting to know calla Lily Ponder, I realized that her journey moved in bits and spurts, at times meandering and other times rushing forward much like rivers do.
I loved the narratives from La Luna or the...more
When I first started this novel, I noted that it was beautifully written by slow moving. As I spent more time getting to know calla Lily Ponder, I realized that her journey moved in bits and spurts, at times meandering and other times rushing forward much like rivers do.
I loved the narratives from La Luna or the...more
I was really looking forward to reading The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder because I loved Rebecca Wells's Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Now, I'm not sure if my lack of love for Crowning Glory is an indication that it was not as good as Ya-Ya or whether it's an indication that my taste has changed in the eleven years since I read Ya-Ya. Whatever the case, I thought Crowning Glory was just okay. I felt like it tried too hard, with its Moon Lady interludes and with Calla's mom being referred to as "M'dea...more
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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...more
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“Sadness can find you anywhere, anytime, so you better have fun when you can.”
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“Good enough is good enough. Perfect will make you a big fat mess every time.”
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