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(2.5) Steel Magnolias redux Ya-Ya's in Bloom is Well's third effort to place the quirky Southern ladies of The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood front and center. With a bit of background gleaned from both previous books, Bloom is instantly familiar through the antics of four little girls who become lifetime friends. Reintroducing their unique friendship, the Ya-Ya's stick to their loyalties through good times and bad. Vivi, Teensy, Caro and Necie first show up as toddlers in 1930, later as their older selves, along with a familiar "petite Ya-Ya", Sidda, Vivi's oldest daughter. In order to accommodate the plot line, a couple of strange characters, relatively speaking, are inserted into this rarified world, the prickly Mavis Spivey and her disgruntled daughter, Edythe. These two facilitate the plot twist that besmirches Well's Ya-Ya's impressive family album, so far filled with inter-family problems, untainted by the problems of others. Now Wells presents a quasi-mystery, one that tries to breathe life into the story. Unfortunately, this Cajun stew doesn't have the joy and spice of the Divine Sisterhood, though Wells gives it the old college try. Charming at their most powerful and eccentric, very real women hid a number of serious issues behind the cheerful facade of their bickering and teasing. There was a real sense of generational connectedness that spoke to women, north and south, of the relationship between mothers and daughters and why secrets are kept to protect the innocent. In their current Ya-Ya incarnation, the dialog, the story line and the characters have almost become caricatures, devoid of the soul that made them such fascinating creatures, warts and all. Even the element of suspense is Ya-Ya'd, turned into foolish ramblings and pale interactions. The once inherently charming now borders on the tedious as tales are rehashed in an effort to win a new audience. This is certainly a popular series that has garnered a devoted audience. But perhaps it is time for these Ya-Ya's to gracefully retire, making room for a new bevy of Southern characters. Haven't these ladies earned a well-deserved rest, permanent icons in a culture that has joyfully welcomed them? Luan Gaines/2005.