Title: I was surprised by this book
Product review: Instead of loving the Ya-Yas, I was surprised by how much I disliked this book. Wells can get specific vignettes just right: a small-town contest that falls into disarray, or girls out on the sleeping-porch on a hot summer night, are wonderfully drawn.The framework for these vignettes is a problem, though: how can a person's, Vivi's, memories be invoked in her daughter when that daughter simply holds a memento from Vivi's scrapbook? Some divine or magical agency? ESP? Who knows? A loving group of women who help their friend's daughter understand her mother better by *telling* her stories would be more mundane, but also more credible and involving.That may be a problem that only I have with the book, but why spend leisure time on a character who is as completely toxic as Vivi? I recommend it if it rains on your vacation and it's the only book you've got.
Would you say this review depicts the product in a flattering or unflattering light?
