| Siddalee Walker is a southern native who moves to the Northeast to pursue a career as a playwright. Following the success of her first play, Sidda is interviewed by a New York Times reporter and innocently shares information regarding her difficult childhood growing up in the deep south with an alcoholic mother. When her mother, Vivi, gets word of the article she is both heartbroken and furious. Vivi refuses to answer phone calls or letters from her oldest daughter. Sidda becomes so upset over the situation, she decides to call off her upcoming wedding to a man named Connor and continues to plead for her mother's forgiveness.
When Vivi's group of childhood friends (known as the Ya-Ya's) realize how desperate Sidda and Vivi's relationship has become, they decide to step in. They encourage Vivi to send Sidda a scrapbook they have kept since childhood, hoping that by reading it, Sidda will not only gain insight on her mother's life history but will also be able to better understand the child abuse and neglect Vivi inflicted on her throughout the years. The scrapbook, which is a collection of photographs, letters and diary entries, turns Sidda's entire world upside down as she realizes that her mother, Vivi Walker, has had anything but an easy life. As Sidda reads through the scrapbook, she is taken deeper and deeper into the heart and soul of her mother. As she reads about Vivi's mentally unstable mother, Vivi's first broken heart and all the physical and emotional disorders Vivi has suffered from over the years, Sidda begins to see her mother as a new person -- as a woman filled with dreams, passion and love .. but also as a woman whom life damaged along the way. | ||
|
Plot & Themes Tone of book? - very sensitive (sigh) Time/era of story - 1930's-1950's Family, struggle with Yes Struggle with: - Mother (or standin) Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Nationality Main Adversary Identity: - Female Age: - 60's-90's Profession/status: Eccentric/Smart/Dumb: Yes Eccentric: How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 8 () United States Yes The US: - Deep South Writing Style Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
||