"Rebecca Wells' debut novel, later expanded into Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, introduces readers to the Walker clan of Thornton, Louisiana. The family's stories are divulged as a sequence of vignettes, each told in earthy first-person and full of dialects, humor, and detail.
The four Walker children, Siddalee, Little Shep, Lulu, and Baylor, tell stories of their Southern Catholic upbringing during the early 1960's, describing shoplifting exploits, parental abuse, Girl Scout outings, piano lessons, Grandma Buggy's insane poodle, and of course, adventures with their mother's friends the Ya-Yas. Flamboyant matriarch Vivi narrates two memoirs about the struggles of marriage and motherhood; her husband, Big Shep, tells stories of plantation farming and of serving on the Draft Board of the Vietnam War. The Walkers' maid, Willetta, and her farmhand husband Chaney provide an intimate outsider's point of view.
The vignettes at the end of the book are set in the early 1990's. The Walker children have established lives of their own, and their parents have stayed on Pecan Grove plantation, where the scarred family is briefly reunited for the baptism of Baylor's baby daughter. "
Jacqueline West, Resident Scholar
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Review Analysis of Little Altars Everywhere
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- thoughtful
Time/era of story
- 1960's-1970's
Kids growing up/acting up?
Yes
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Age group of kid(s) in story:
- high school
Parents/lack of parents problem?
- parental abuse
Wild kid(s)?
- committing crimes
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Age:
- a kid
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- none
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 5 (an average amount)
United States
Yes
The US:
- Deep South
Farm/Ranch?
Yes
Farm/Ranch:
- farm
Small town?
Yes
Style
Person
- rotating 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references
- touching of anatomy
- lesbians!
- descript. of female anat. (the big B's)
- descript. of nude males (the big P)
- rape/molest (yeech!)
Unusual Style:
- a lot of flashback and forwards
- No single main character?
- written like a journal/diary/letters
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
