The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder

This book is so good! I really loved the authors Ya Ya sisterhood series, so I gave this one a shot too. It was so worth it. It had me laughing, cringing, and tearing up. I really wish there was a second book so we could find out what happens with Calla Lily and her childhood sweetheart.

When I read the negative reviews I wondered if I had read the same book. I was wrapped up in the storyline by the third page and couldn't put the book down. Rebecca Wells does a marvelous job describing such beauty and joy in this book that you can't help to feel like you are watching it all. I found so much in common with the main character that I was moved to tears during her losses and grief. There's nothing like a strong main character that learns and grows from such trials. She becomes a woman who learns that there is a purpose to even the darkest times and I think we can all learn something from this book. Excellent book, a must read

Calla Lily is one of the most memorable and likeable characters I have read. You get totally engrossed in the trials and tribulations of her life. I found myself laughing and crying along with her.

Rebecca Wells has beautifully written an engaging coming-of-age story that is rich with emotion. Beginning with her 1950's childhood, it follows Calla Lily Ponder's bittersweet journey into adulthood guided by the Moon Lady. While growing up in tiny La Luna, Louisiana, Calla is surrounded by the love of her family, friends and the neighborhood women gathered at her beloved mother's beauty salon. Her dream is to follow in her mother's footsteps...healing women's hearts while fixing their hair. But soon, tragedy strikes and Calla leaves for vibrant New Orleans, where her adventures change her life forever. Ms. Wells is a gifted storyteller. She has masterfully created an engaging storyline with a wonderful cast of endearing, compelling characters, and a sweet, loving relationship between mother and daughter. She does a magnificent job describing the essence of life in a small southern town. An enchanting spiritual element was beautifully woven throughout. As entertaining as this story was, it did include important lessons about life, friendship and the resilience of the human spirit. I really loved this thoroughly enjoyable book and I highly recommend it!

Maybe because I am new to Rebecca Wells, I loved this book. It was written in a rather simple fashion but the story was so touching it kept my interest to the last page. For those that wish to be entertained with a few tears and a few laughs and don't mind a little exaggeration on miracles, I strongly recommend this book.

I read this entire book within 24 hours. I simply could not put it down. As the daughter of a woman who went to the beauty parlor every week for a "wash and set," reading this book was like stepping back into a different era, a time and place made special by the relationships between the women who connected with one another week after week, talking about their families and their lives. My mother would head off to the beauty parlor every Friday, the stress of day-to-day life evident in her posture, her attitude and in the frown on her face. But after a couple of hours of female bonding over a cup of hot coffee or a frosty glass of sweet tea and relaxing with her gang of gals, Mama came home with a completely different attitude. She was carefree again, the mother that we adored. I have no doubt that Calla Lily Ponder watched her mother work beauty shop magic. I have seen the results of that powerful stuff and it always leaves me feeling awed at the power of women-to-woman friendship. Even now when I get my hair done I feel lighter, brighter and more like myself afterward. Reading this book also reminded me of the glory of first love. There's really nothing else like it. The fast-beating heart, the first time he holds your hand, that first tentative kiss... reading this book helped me travel back in time to relive my own "first love," and that was a glorious time for me. I wish I had taken off and left home like Calla Lily did. Her experience in New Orleans was just what I would have liked to have done if I hadn't been such a scaredy cat. What fun she had! Reaching out, branching out, learning that life is more than what she knew in her small, small town. There are so many scenes in this book that broke my heart and others that healed that heart back up again. I urge every woman to read this book. It will take you to places that you never expected to go and will remind you of bittersweet times that you'd forgotten all about.