Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood: A Novel, by Rebecca Wells

Read and reviewed in November, 2014. Released later

Wow, what a wild ride! A mother's life, especially her adolesence, as seen through the eyes of her eldest daughter, Siddalee, with frequent flashbacks as remembered by the mother, Vivi. Herself the daughter of an alcoholic, abusive father and an overly pious, strictly religious mother, Vivi was the ringleader of a group of four girls who remained best friends from childhood to late middle age. They had some wild escapades in their youth, including a skinny-dipping party in the town's water tower! Vivi was beaten by her father, chastised by her mother, and sent to a strict Catholic girls' boarding school. No wonder that she became an alcoholic, and that her own four young children were overwhelming for her. The surprising thing is that her daughter Sidda turned out to be as normal as she was.