Rebecca Wells – författare

An emotionally charged addition to Rebecca Wells’ bestselling and much loved previous novels, Ya-Yas in Bloom reveals the roots of the Ya-Yas' friendship in the 1930s and roars through sixty years of marriage, child-raising, and hair-raising family secrets…When four year old Teensy Whitman stuffs a pecan up her nose, she sets off the chain of events that lead Teensy, Caro, Vivi and Necie to become true sister-friends. Told in alternating voices of Vivi and the Petite Ya-Yas, Siddalee and Baylor Walker, as well as other denizens of Thornton, Louisiana, Ya-Yas in Bloom shows is the Ya-Yas in love, and at war with convention.Through crises of faith and hilarious lapses of parenting skills, brushes with alcoholism and glimpses of the dark reality of racial bigotry, the Ya-Ya values of unconditional loyalty, high style and Cajun sass shine through.But in the Ya-Yas' inimitable way, these four remarkable women also teach their children about the Mysteries: the wonder of snow in the Deep South, the possibility that humans are made of stars, and the belief that miracles do happen. And they need a miracle when old grudges and wounded psyches lead to a heartbreaking crime – and the dynamic web of sisterhood is the only safety net strong enough to endure.

For longtime Ya-Ya fans, as well as the lucky ones discovering Wells for the first time, comes Wells’s new standalone novel about the pull of first love, the power of home, and everyday magic.“My name is Calla Lily Ponder. I was born in 1953, in La Luna, Louisiana.”So begins Calla Lily’s journey through her magical childhood in La Luna, a small town named after the sparkling river from which Calla draws her strength time and time again. It’s in La Luna where Calla Lily discovers her talent for fixing people’s hair—learned at the side of her talented and loving mother—but also the transformative gift of first love.A series of tragic events leads Calla to search for a fresh start in a beauty school in New Orleans, the wild and colourful city that allows Calla to flourish into adulthood, and to realize her “healing hands” can do much more than fix damaged hair.

With a New Preface“Readers who like their books about the human condition spiced with a Southern drawl won’t want to miss this one.”—Mississippi Sun Herald In honor of its thirtieth anniversary, a special edition of the beloved bestselling novel about four Southern women that explores the enduring bonds of friendship, the often-rocky relationship between mothers and daughters, and the healing power of humor and love.In a New York Times interview with hit theatrical director Siddalee Walker—the oldest daughter of Vivi Abbott Walker, Ya-Ya extraordinaire—Vivi is described as a “tap-dancing child abuser.” Enraged, Vivi disowns her child. Devastated, Sidda begs for forgiveness, even postponing her upcoming wedding.The heartbreaking divide looks unbreachable until Vivi’s dear circle of Ya-Yas convince her to send Sidda a scrapbook of their girlhood memories called “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.”As Sidda struggles to truly know her mother and the past, she comes face to face with the tangled beauty of imperfect love, and the fact that forgiveness, more than understanding, is often what the heart longs for.In the decades since its publication, Rebecca Wells’ “wonderfully irreverent” (Booklist) excavation of small-town Louisiana life “thick with sensual excesses” (Seattle Weekly) won the devotion of legions of readers, inspired a hit film, and continues to enchant new generations with its deep honesty and irresistible charm.

This book provides an introduction to food policy in the United Kingdom, examining policy development, implementation, influences and current issues.The book begins by providing a wide-ranging introduction to food policy in the UK, situating it within wider global debates and establishing key drivers, such as issues related to global citizenship, trade and finance. The use of food control as a policy lever is also discussed and contrasted with alternative approaches based on behaviour change. The book presents an overview of the history of UK food policy, from which there is much to be learned, before moving onto current challenges posed by political instability, both at home and abroad, global pandemics and cost of living crises. Foremost is the need to manage public health, including both malnutrition and obesity, while promoting sustainable and healthy diets, as well as the broader issues around addressing food security and food poverty. The book also examines public sector food initiatives, such as school food and early childhood provisions, and food regulation. As a part of food regulation, chapters examine food scares and food fraud, from chalk in flour to "horsegate". The role of media, marketing and advertising is also considered within a policy perspective. Taking a wider lens, the book also discusses the impact of global food trade and the financialisation of food on food policy in the UK and vice versa. The book is supported by instructor eResources on the Routledge website designed to support student learning as well as provide regular updates on UK food policy developments. The eResources include student activities, group exercises and links to further reading and additional resources.This book serves as a key introduction to UK food and agricultural policy for students, scholars, policymakers and professionals, as well as those interested in food systems, public health and social policy more widely.

This book provides an introduction to food policy in the United Kingdom, examining policy development, implementation, influences and current issues.The book begins by providing a wide-ranging introduction to food policy in the UK, situating it within wider global debates and establishing key drivers, such as issues related to global citizenship, trade and finance. The use of food control as a policy lever is also discussed and contrasted with alternative approaches based on behaviour change. The book presents an overview of the history of UK food policy, from which there is much to be learned, before moving onto current challenges posed by political instability, both at home and abroad, global pandemics and cost of living crises. Foremost is the need to manage public health, including both malnutrition and obesity, while promoting sustainable and healthy diets, as well as the broader issues around addressing food security and food poverty. The book also examines public sector food initiatives, such as school food and early childhood provisions, and food regulation. As a part of food regulation, chapters examine food scares and food fraud, from chalk in flour to "horsegate". The role of media, marketing and advertising is also considered within a policy perspective. Taking a wider lens, the book also discusses the impact of global food trade and the financialisation of food on food policy in the UK and vice versa. The book is supported by instructor eResources on the Routledge website designed to support student learning as well as provide regular updates on UK food policy developments. The eResources include student activities, group exercises and links to further reading and additional resources.This book serves as a key introduction to UK food and agricultural policy for students, scholars, policymakers and professionals, as well as those interested in food systems, public health and social policy more widely.

Health Program Planning and Evaluation: A Practical, Systematic Approach for Community Health, Fifth Edition carefully walks the reader through the process for developing, implementing, and evaluating successful community health promotion programs. Featuring reader-friendly, accessible language and practical tools and concepts, this invaluable resource prepares students and professionals to become not only competent health program planners, but savvy consumers of evaluation reports and prudent users of evaluation consultants.Thoughtfully constructed, the authors uniquely use program theory – a conceptual model of program planning and evaluation – throughout the text to reinforce the cyclical nature of the process. Additionally, each chapter concludes with a summary that is organized by levels of the public health pyramid, reinforcing the social-ecological and multi-level nature of health promotion and public health planning.Key Features:•Examples and references from public health, medicine, nursing, social work, and community health that provide an interdisciplinary perspective while addressing public health programming.•Systems thinking concepts, such as feedback, and its importance to those who fund health programs and desire to support programs creating systems change.•Greater focus on cultural humility.•New full color design that brings tables, figures and diagrams to life.•Updated research references, such as studies using geographic information systems and other advances in the use of integrated data in public health.•Updated internet resources in each chapter, including sources outside the United States.•Each new print copy includes Navigate eBook Access enabling you to read your digital textbook online or offline, on computers, tablets, and mobile devices.

Health Program Planning and Evaluation: A Practical, Systematic Approach for Community Health, Sixth Edition offers a clear, applied guide to designing, implementing, and evaluating effective community and public health programs. Written in accessible language and grounded in practice, the text prepares students to plan evidence‑informed health promotional initiatives, critically interpret evaluation findings, and work effectively with evaluation consultants. The Sixth Edition uniquely integrates program theory as a unifying framework throughout the planning and evaluation cycle, reinforcing the iterative nature of public health practice. It also strengthens its focus on effect theory, highlighting how interventions lead to outcomes. Each chapter concludes with a synthesis organized by the Public Health Pyramid, emphasizing the social‑ecological and multi‑level foundations of health promotion and population health improvement.