55 pages • 1 hour read
Rebecca WellsDivine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1996A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Prologue-Chapter 4Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Prologue Summary
Content Warning: This section of the guide describes the novel’s treatment of substance misuse disorders, mental health conditions, death by suicide, child abuse, domestic abuse, and racism.
Sidda Walker is now an adult, and the novel begins with one of her childhood memories: She is six years old. Her father is shooting doves with his friends at their cotton plantation in Louisiana, in 1959, while Sidda’s mother, Vivi, sits inside with her best friends, playing poker. The group calls themselves “the Ya-Yas” and refer to their children as “Petites Ya-Yas.” Their motto is: “Smoke, Drink, Never Think” (XI), a line from a Billie Holiday song. That night, Sidda wakes from a bad dream and goes to her mother’s bedroom; but Vivi is too inebriated to even stir. Sidda walks outside in the moonlight and looks up to see the Virgin Mary sitting on the moon, waving down at her. Sidda feels loved, if only for a moment.
Chapter 1 Summary
Sidda is 40 years old and is an acclaimed director of feminist plays in New York. She is also engaged to a man she loves named Connor. During an interview for the New York Times, Sidda is manipulated into revealing too much about her childhood. Her statements are exaggerated in the article, and her mother is labeled a “tap-dancing child abuser” (1). Sidda already knows her mother is enraged about the article, but she works up the nerve to call her. Vivi hangs up on Sidda’s first try, and on the second, Sidda quickly apologizes and explains that she didn’t mean the things that were printed. Vivi is irate and proclaims that she is disowning Sidda and revoking her love. This angers Sidda, who reminds her mother that she did in fact physically abuse her and her siblings; Vivi hangs up.
Sidda’s father, Shep, is afraid to talk to her for fear of retribution from Vivi, and only Sidda’s youngest brother, Baylor, is willing to keep in touch with her. He warns Sidda that their mother is unlikely to ever forgive her. Sidda attempts to write Vivi two letters, one which asks for forgiveness and one which asks for Vivi’s advice on her upcoming play. She hopes that Vivi will send her something that gives her a glimpse into her childhood with the Ya-Yas.
Sidda awakes one night in a panic, certain that Connor has died while sleeping next to her. He awakes and tries to calm her down, but he senses that something more is wrong. Sidda admits she wants to put off their wedding because she worries that Connor will die one day. Connor thinks this is an irrational reason to postpone. Sidda suggests taking some time to herself by staying at a coworker’s cabin while she and Connor are in Seattle for the play; Connor agrees.
Chapter 2 Summary
Vivi lives in the Louisiana bayou on land called Pecan Grove. She is fit and active for her age. She reads a letter from Sidda which announces Sidda’s decision to postpone marrying Connor because she feels she does not know how to love. Vivi worries about this and looks at a photograph of Sidda and Connor from their engagement announcement, thinking that Sidda hasn’t looked this happy since she was a child.
Vivi meets with the other Ya-Yas—Teensy, Caro, and Necie—and they head out together to Spring Creek, which is a sacred place they have visited since they were children. Along the nostalgic drive, the women drink Bloody Marys. Each Ya-Ya reads the letter from Sidda, and Vivi explains that she has been praying to both the Virgin Mary and God for help in this matter. The women have a picnic by the creek, and Caro insists that Vivi should send Sidda their scrapbook of memories. Vivi agrees, and the women toast to the idea while looking each other in the eye—this is one of many Ya-Ya rules.
Chapter 3 Summary
That same night, Vivi sits in her room and prays to Mary, wondering if Sidda is rejecting love because of the abuse she experienced from Vivi as a child. Vivi feels guilty for what she did, but she also knows that mental illness was not properly addressed at the time, and she also struggled with alcoholism. Vivi does not remember beating her children, but Caro described one incident to her, telling Vivi that she took one of Shep’s belts and hit the children until they bled. There were other less severe beatings as well. Vivi wonders if Sidda still thinks about these memories or about her twin brother who died when he was born. She asks Mary to give Sidda the strength to “walk through the fire” and take the risk of love and marriage (19).
Chapter 4 Summary
In Seattle, Sidda thinks back to last February when Connor proposed to her. After a night of passionate love making, he popped the question and Sidda said yes despite never having plans to marry at all. She felt truly loved and appreciated by Connor, which nobody else in her life had ever made her feel. That day, they took the picture they sent out as their engagement announcement, smiling with genuine joy.
Sidda drives out to the cabin by herself, leaving her phone and most of her belongings behind. She stares at a package her mother sent her, wondering what might be inside. In the middle of the night, Sidda awakes and decides to finally open the package. It contains a letter from Vivi, which reminds Sidda that nobody is certain how to love, or how to do anything at all, until they do it. The box also contains a scrapbook that is completely stuffed with papers, photographs, and other memorabilia. Sidda peruses it, thinking about how much she misses her mother and the other Ya-Yas. These are the women who guided her through childhood. She comes to a photo of a man in a World War II army uniform; she wonders if it is Teensy’s brother Jack, who died in the Second World War and was Vivi’s first love. There is a photo of all four Ya-Yas, pregnant and in their bathing suits, and memories of swimming with them come flooding back. Sidda realizes what a gift her mother has given her with this scrapbook titled “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood” (26).
Prologue-Chapter 4 Analysis
The first few chapters introduce primary character dynamics and relationships. While the conflict between Sidda and Vivi is the driving force of the novel’s plot, the Ya-Yas and their sisterhood of trust and acceptance is another important strand that demonstrates The Power of Female Friendships. Vivi and her friends are quick-witted, loyal, and completely honest with one another. When they are with each other, they let go of propriety and Southern standards of femininity. They have all lived in the same small corner of the world since they were children, and their bond hasn’t changed over the years.
The Ya-Yas grew up together in Louisiana in the 1930s. This was a time when the Great Depression caused widespread unemployment and financial hardships. It was followed by the Second World War, which brought its own struggles. Yet, the Ya-Yas seem to exist outside of all this difficult history, at least while they are children; this gives the sense of them being outside of time and history, like a feature of the land itself. Their close friendship has an almost supernatural quality and has withstood the test of time, which has brought them a host of personal challenges, as well. The Ya-Yas have survived problems, small and large, because of their love for each other. This is what Sidda will come to understand better as she spends more time with the scrapbook. The aptly named “Divine Secrets” that Sidda holds in her hands becomes her guide to discovering this fundamental truth.
The central conflict of the novel that sets the plot in motion is between Sidda and Vivi. Vivi is upset about the interview that was published in the newspaper, in which Sidda publicly proclaims that Vivi was a bad parent. She is embarrassed and hurt that Sidda would announce this judgment to the world. However, when Vivi discovers that Sidda is suffering personal and professional crises, she puts aside her anger with her daughter to try and help Sidda through her problems. Her desire to solve Sidda’s problems and insecurities establishes the strong connection between the two characters that persists despite their differences and arguments. Similarly, Sidda, too, turns to her mother for help when she feels hurt and insecure, even though she has bad memories of her childhood and Vivi’s parenting. This shows that Sidda’s connection with Vivi transcends these unpleasant memories. In this way, these beginning chapters establish The Significance of Mother-Daughter Bonds.
Sidda’s painful childhood memories also set up the theme of The Relationship Between the Past and the Present. When Sidda looks back on her childhood, it is only through a negative lens: She focuses on all of Vivi’s missteps and cruelties as a parent. Sidda fears that she will repeat those mistakes in her own relationships. She is engaged to be married, but she worries that she cannot properly love her fiancé Connor because she was never taught how to love. However, Sidda’s hesitation to marry Connor is her own, though she knows her relationship with Vivi has a part in it. After Sidda receives the scrapbook, she revisits memories of her childhood and finds that they are often joyful, filled with love and companionship. While Sidda’s past is sometimes painful, it is not without its ironies and humor, as evidenced by the first line of the novel that calls Vivi a “tap-dancing child abuser” (1). The novel constantly rotates between humor and tragedy, showing that its characters’ lives, too, are shaped by an equal measure of both elements.
