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bookapotamus's review against another edition
3.0
I love Rebecca Wells' writing and most of her stories, but this one was definitely not one of my favorites. I felt it was a bit on the goofy dramatic side, and very predictable. I enjoyed the characters, and loved the setting and all the sweet, charming southern people who lived there, but it just didn't lure me in as her other books do.
I could have done without the La Luna / Moon stuff entirely. The writing also seemed very juvenile, even as Calla grew up. It was a cute story, so I wouldn't NOT recommend it - but not that fun to read, and a bit out of Wells' character for writing style.
I could have done without the La Luna / Moon stuff entirely. The writing also seemed very juvenile, even as Calla grew up. It was a cute story, so I wouldn't NOT recommend it - but not that fun to read, and a bit out of Wells' character for writing style.
karieh13's review against another edition
3.0
I did not know, until reading other reviews of “Crowning Glory” that Rebecca Wells was suffering from Lyme disease while writing this book. I cannot imagine trying to create and edit a novel while battling a debilitating illness.
It helps to explain, I think, what was missing for me in “The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder”. Unfair as it may be to compare this book to “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood”, I cannot help but think back to that day about 15 (?) years ago that I was sitting in my car listening to Ms. Wells on the radio as she read a passage from that amazing book aloud. Not only were the words breathtaking, but the passion in her voice filled my car and my senses.
That passion and energy is in her current book for only brief flashes. The plot just kind of clicks along, sometimes not making much sense, and even at moments that are high (and low) points of Calla’s life, most of the emotion stays on the page and does not transfer to the reader. But there are still flashes of that voice…and those kept me going.
“The sun shone down, my mother’s hands touched my head, and her fingers lathered love into me. Never has my hair been so soft. Sometimes I still wash my hair in rainwater, to remember.”
And “I watched as she leaned into him for strength. I saw that pain is part of beauty – that inside of all that music, all that love, all the moonlight and sunlight, are shafts of pain, and we are meant to bear it all.”
I love to go to the South in books. I am not from there and don’t have an ounce of Southern in me. But through some of my favorite authors, including Wells, I can visit there; exist for a short while amidst the heat and the smells of bougainvillea, barbeque and gumbo. And meet the characters of Southern fiction.
“Miz Lizbeth preferred an old-style bubble dryer that I kept in the salon for my older clients. The older clients also loved their Aqua Net. No self-respecting Louisiana woman of a certain age felt that her hair was truly “done” without a good shellacking of Aqua Net.”
That’s the voice I wanted to hear. I hope more than anything that Ms. Wells recovers her strength and vitality. In the meantime, I will continue to buy her books and read her words; taking short trips to the land of Ya-Yas and Calla Lilys.
It helps to explain, I think, what was missing for me in “The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder”. Unfair as it may be to compare this book to “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood”, I cannot help but think back to that day about 15 (?) years ago that I was sitting in my car listening to Ms. Wells on the radio as she read a passage from that amazing book aloud. Not only were the words breathtaking, but the passion in her voice filled my car and my senses.
That passion and energy is in her current book for only brief flashes. The plot just kind of clicks along, sometimes not making much sense, and even at moments that are high (and low) points of Calla’s life, most of the emotion stays on the page and does not transfer to the reader. But there are still flashes of that voice…and those kept me going.
“The sun shone down, my mother’s hands touched my head, and her fingers lathered love into me. Never has my hair been so soft. Sometimes I still wash my hair in rainwater, to remember.”
And “I watched as she leaned into him for strength. I saw that pain is part of beauty – that inside of all that music, all that love, all the moonlight and sunlight, are shafts of pain, and we are meant to bear it all.”
I love to go to the South in books. I am not from there and don’t have an ounce of Southern in me. But through some of my favorite authors, including Wells, I can visit there; exist for a short while amidst the heat and the smells of bougainvillea, barbeque and gumbo. And meet the characters of Southern fiction.
“Miz Lizbeth preferred an old-style bubble dryer that I kept in the salon for my older clients. The older clients also loved their Aqua Net. No self-respecting Louisiana woman of a certain age felt that her hair was truly “done” without a good shellacking of Aqua Net.”
That’s the voice I wanted to hear. I hope more than anything that Ms. Wells recovers her strength and vitality. In the meantime, I will continue to buy her books and read her words; taking short trips to the land of Ya-Yas and Calla Lilys.
novelesque_life's review against another edition
3.0
3 STARS
"The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder is the sweet, sexy, funny journey of Calla Lily's life set in Wells's expanding fictional Louisiana landscape. In the small river town of La Luna, Calla bursts into being, a force of nature as luminous as the flower she is named for. Under the loving light of the Moon Lady, the feminine force that will guide and protect her throughout her life, Calla enjoys a blissful childhood—until it is cut short. Her mother, M'Dear, a woman of rapture and love, teaches Calla compassion, and passes on to her the art of healing through the humble womanly art of "fixing hair." At her mother's side, Calla further learns that this same touch of hands on the human body can quiet her own soul. It is also on the banks of the La Luna River that Calla encounters sweet, succulent first love, with a boy named Tuck.
But when Tuck leaves Calla with a broken heart, she transforms hurt into inspiration and heads for the wild and colorful city of New Orleans to study at L'Académie de Beauté de Crescent. In that extravagant big river city, she finds her destiny—and comes to understand fully the power of her "healing hands" to change lives and soothe pain, including her own. When Tuck reappears years later, he presents her with an offer that is colored by the memories of lost love. But who knows how Calla Lily, a "daughter of the Moon Lady," will respond?" (From Amazon)
It was an okay novel but I think I expected too much.
"The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder is the sweet, sexy, funny journey of Calla Lily's life set in Wells's expanding fictional Louisiana landscape. In the small river town of La Luna, Calla bursts into being, a force of nature as luminous as the flower she is named for. Under the loving light of the Moon Lady, the feminine force that will guide and protect her throughout her life, Calla enjoys a blissful childhood—until it is cut short. Her mother, M'Dear, a woman of rapture and love, teaches Calla compassion, and passes on to her the art of healing through the humble womanly art of "fixing hair." At her mother's side, Calla further learns that this same touch of hands on the human body can quiet her own soul. It is also on the banks of the La Luna River that Calla encounters sweet, succulent first love, with a boy named Tuck.
But when Tuck leaves Calla with a broken heart, she transforms hurt into inspiration and heads for the wild and colorful city of New Orleans to study at L'Académie de Beauté de Crescent. In that extravagant big river city, she finds her destiny—and comes to understand fully the power of her "healing hands" to change lives and soothe pain, including her own. When Tuck reappears years later, he presents her with an offer that is colored by the memories of lost love. But who knows how Calla Lily, a "daughter of the Moon Lady," will respond?" (From Amazon)
It was an okay novel but I think I expected too much.
poorlenore's review against another edition
As with all her novels, it was fantastic! I get so into her characters and their worlds. I love how she writes and it makes me feel like I can touch and taste the world she creates.
girlgotnoidentity's review against another edition
4.0
SUMMER. YOUTH. BEAUTIFUL MOMENTS. SMALL TOWN. LIFE.
A very heartwarming read. A great book to start my summer break.
A very heartwarming read. A great book to start my summer break.
kat7321's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of the best books I've read. Not in its literary sophistication, though it's solidly written, but in the experience of the story, the human emotions, the sheer beauty of perspective, even through events that are difficult and sad. I laughed out loud several times, and I certainly was brought to tears more than once. I was thoroughly enchanted by the main character, Calla Lily Ponder, and related to her experience easily, though there is little comparison between her life/character and my own. I listened to it on audio, and I must say that the accents were a boost to the flavor of the whole story. Wonderful, wonderful book. I may even listen to it again, and I never do that! Recommended!
impybelle's review against another edition
4.0
The only thing I didn't like, after it was all said and done, about The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder was the wrap up with Tuck.
I didn't mind that she went back to Tuck, and I didn't mind that he came back to her. But the fact that what kept them apart was Uncle Tucker intervening and swiping their mail (as well as feeding Tuck lies) seemed a little... predictable, somehow. Which probably says more about the way my mind works than anything else, but I think I would have prefered for Tuck to have just... gotten scared and then Uncle Tuck used that to his advantage. Easier to relate to, I guess.
That said, I really loved the book. It was easy to slip into and I cried when things didn't work out for Calla, and occasionally when things did, as well.
I didn't mind that she went back to Tuck, and I didn't mind that he came back to her. But the fact that what kept them apart was Uncle Tucker intervening and swiping their mail (as well as feeding Tuck lies) seemed a little... predictable, somehow. Which probably says more about the way my mind works than anything else, but I think I would have prefered for Tuck to have just... gotten scared and then Uncle Tuck used that to his advantage. Easier to relate to, I guess.
That said, I really loved the book. It was easy to slip into and I cried when things didn't work out for Calla, and occasionally when things did, as well.