A Southern Catholic Dysfunctional Family Drama
Written: Mar 21 '01 (Updated Mar 21 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great characterization, lots of laughs
Cons: Some of the subject matter is quite disturbing
The Bottom Line: Little Altars Everywhere must surely be one of the best debut novels from an American writer for years and years.
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| Nathanael73's Full Review: Rebecca Wells - The Ya-ya Boxed Set: Divine Secret... |
The cover of Rebecca Wells' Little Altars Everywhere is extremely misleading. It depicts a pretty young girl in a summer dress jumping rope against a pink-sky background. I had noticed the book several times in Barnes & Noble and assumed it was a happy little book for children or teenage girls. One can imagine my surprise when the book turned up on the curriculum of the M.A course I am taking in Twentieth Century American Literature. I have since been reminded in a big way to refrain from judging a book by its cover.
Wells is best known for her best-selling Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood, the follow-up to Little Altars Everywhere, which was her first novel. Little Altars Everywhere tells the story of the Walker family of Thornton, Louisiana, though in a very non-traditional way. Each of the family members has at least one chapter dedicated to telling their side of the story. The eldest daughter, Siddalee, actually has seven chapters dedicated to her point of view, while her sister, Lulu, only receives one chapter. Chaney and Willetta, the family's long-time black servants, each receive a chapter, and in many ways they are perhaps the most reliable narrators, as they are always on the edge of the action, keeping out of the way in the shadows, yet observing everything.
In addition to the narration constantly changing from one character to the next, the year in which the action takes place is also constantly changing. For example, the first chapter is set in 1991, the second in 1963, and the final chapter takes us back to 1991 again. To make matters more confusing, the character may be writing in 1991 about something that happened in 1965. Wells really forces her readers to keep on their toes. Thankfully she begins each chapter with a sub-heading indicating the narrator and the year, such as “Catfish Dreams (Baylor, 1990)”. Without these sub-headings, I fear many readers would be lost.
Though Wells pays scant regard to unity of time and deliberately shifts the point of view constantly, she does set all the action in one physical location, Thornton, Louisiana, and more specifically, the Pecan Grove plantation, which has been home to the Walker clan for several generations. Almost all the action involves members of the Walker family: the mother, Viviane, the father, Big Shep, and the children, Siddalee, Little Shep, Lulu and Baylor. The first two-thirds of the book deals with the Walker children’s childhood years, while the final section deals with the impact their childhood has on their lives as adults. Although the Walkers seem happy on the surface, there is some pretty nasty stuff underneath, such as physical and sexual abuse, and alcoholism. Add an overabundance of Catholic guilt and you have one steamy Gumbo.
I found Little Altars Everywhere to be extremely well written, especially for a first novel. In places it is laugh-out-loud funny, while in others it bought tears to my eyes (not an easy task). At times the characters sickened me with their self-destructive behavior, while at others they thrilled me with their joy de vive. Being neither a Southerner nor a Catholic, the world of the Walkers is in many ways foreign to me, and as such extremely interesting. As I read I kept wondering if people like the Walkers really exist, and my classmates, all White Southerners, one a Catholic to boot, assured me that they know people just like the Walkers. Wells receives full-marks for realism then.
Upon finishing the novel I immediately wanted to re-read it, as I thoroughly enjoyed most of the book, and am sure I am will discover richer rewards the second time around. I am also inspired to seek out Wells’ other work. That’s the sign of a good book, whatever the cover may be.
Recommended:
Yes
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Nathanael73
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Location: Michigan
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