Alien abduction? A major concussion? It's hard to know what happened to the Rebecca Wells who came up with a world like the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, the author whose depiction of skinny-dipping in the town water tower made millions of women's sides split with laughter.
That Wells is nowhere to be seen in "The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder." This is Wells' fourth novel and her first without the Ya-Yas. Her new crew of Louisiana characters -- Cally, M'Dear, Tuck, Sukey -- may have the regional pet names, but they don't have the personalities that once inspired twinges of dread or anticipation with each page turn, wondering if Vivi or Teensy would prevail or fail.
Calla Lily's future seems clear from the first chapter and, even given a well-executed plot twist in the final pages, really is never in doubt. Does Wells think she's keeping us guessing as she writes in a new beau, or scripts a girlfriend's alcoholism? Maybe, but Calla's doe-eyed good nature, vaguely mystical powers of shampoo, and heart-of-gold gay buddy never rise or fall more than the water behind the levees.
Readers devoted to the Ya-Yas may in fact spend much of the book wondering what Wells is holding back, waiting for the floodwaters of her earlier storytelling to crest and spill into their lives. But life here is quite safe, y'all.
KIM ODE
