The Mermaid Chair

Several years ago, when I read the Secret life of Bees I made it a point to read this other book from Sue Monk Kidd. This past month I joined a group of ladies Book club. The hostess of our first gathering had a closet full of books she has marked to read. She gave me a tour of it and when I read aloud the title of this book she told me I could borrow it and return it next month at our next reunion. Thus, being pressured for time, I read it as soon as I could :)

The setting of this book is Egret Island in South Carolina, a mangrove paradise where alligators and egrets are a daily part of the scenery, and where the heroine goes to help her crazed mother recover from a self mutilating agony. However, this heroine, who has a lovely husband, deserts all but her wanton desires to have an affair with a young priest that is more a park ranger than a devout. As fate takes a hand in this drama, everything turns right side up in the end, and the heroine gets cured of everything, including the guilt she has carried all these years of accidentally killing her dad.

The story is charming and nicely set, though the plot is thinly veiled. The heroine seems weak and vacillating and more of a sampler of life than a real committed being. I liked what happens to her though I wondered if she really deserved it. Does that sound strange? It is as if she moves through life guided by the ebb and flow of the tides and has no true internal compass to guide her. Her supposed affair, which she feels so strong about one minute, is so easily let go on the next, and is her marriage and her bonds with her mother. I feel that this character had potential for growth but that somehow it went undeveloped.

The concept that I liked a lot is "Solitude of Being". It is simply that time we all need to be alone in order to grow and listen to our internal voice, and one that so many of us desperately fight not to hear.

There was also a phrase that rang true to me in which the heroine and her brother are "partners in surviving mother" (pg 253). I felt that was a very intuitive phrase in which siblings somehow help each other through childhood that most often is a war field for so many children.

There is also the phrase "Forgiveness was so much harder than being remorseful. I couldn't imagine the terrible surrender it would take (to forgive)" (pg.324). How true this is and so well put.

Lastly a quote from RUMI: "Lovers do not finally meet somewhere, they are in each other all along". Hmmmm... How lovely the sentiment.

I loved this book, but reading most of the reviews, it seems like most people hated this book. I do think "The Secret Life of Bees" was better--I enjoyed the characters and storyline in Bees more so than "The Mermaid Chair."

The main character of Jessie drove me crazy sometimes because, as everyone thinks, she could be so selfish sometimes when it came to her mother and her husband. True, it's a little unbelievable Jessie would choose to pretty much ignore her mother's mental state and spend most of her time and energy in love with a monk. But when you think about it, their relationship had been strained for a long time and people can be in denial and choose distraction over reality. In fact, I'm surprised Nelle and Jessie didn't get into more fights after their long estranged relationship. I didn't feel like Hepzibah's character added anything substantial to the ladies' frienship or the novel. Lastly, I did not understand this great "love" between Jessie and Whit. To me it wasn't love but a selfish act both felt like they needed to indulge in. Readers remember the shoe salesman question?

Despite all these complaints, which seem to concern a lot of the main points of "The Mermaid Chair," I loved all the small things about this novel--all the background stuff. What I enjoyed about this book were the tales of the mermaid and the mermaid chair, the town's annual mermaid chair ritual, Max the eternal dog, Kat "the no nonsense" best friend, descriptions of Jessie's box artwork and her mermaid paintings, the island's topography, the descriptions of Jessie, Dee, and Hugh's birthday follies, and most of all the touching memories between Jessie and her father. The last plot twist about Jessie's father surprised me. I for one did not see it coming.

This was a nice comfy read that I really enjoyed. If you enjoy writers like Nicholas Sparks or reads that don't take too much mental investment, I would highly recommend this story.

“You can't stop your heart from loving, really -- it's like standing out there in the ocean yelling at the waves to stop.”
― Sue Monk Kidd, The Mermaid Chair

My review..9/6/2020

The Mermaid Chair was a must read for me. I fell in love..immediately..with the cover. I'd also read "The invention of wings" which I'd rated a five. I was prepared to love this. I did not.

I DID love certain aspects. By gosh, this woman can write. And she writes in a way I love. She writes about summer and islands and Mermaids. She writes of Star Fish and beautiful Sea Corral and she writes of water and tranquility. She writes of beautiful flowers and the sweetness of the Sea Spray and of tropical breezes and citrus and her writing is just..simply..heavenly.

But the subject matter..it did not do it for me. The infidelity was not the issue..not really. So what WAS the issue? Lots of things.

I did not really understand Jess. I did understand her motivation, her wanting to be free. And I understood her desire. To people who question why she needed sex to feel free..I get that. Is there anything more exciting then the first blush of pure passion? Of feeling a soul connection? I got all that and it did not offend me.

But her feelings of disdain for her husband bewildered me. Not that she was tired of him. But in certain ways, she seemed to find him repugnant and that I did not get. To question one's life..yes. But at times Jesse almost seemed to dislike him and she became so hostile toward High and so..almost contemptious..that I found it hard to understand.

Add to that:

SPOILERS:

When Jesse had the odd turnaround and wanted to go back to Hugh. It seemed to happen so suddenly. Can one really turn off one's sexuality that quickly? She LOVED this man..Brother Tom..and all of a sudden she was longing for Hugh. I GUESS this sort of thing happens. Not having ever been married maybe I just do not get it. But all of a sudden her feelings shifted toward Hugh and she loved him fiercely. Now if it had been casual between tom and her I'd have understood but she felt Tom was PART of her and her soul. It was hard to understand when all of a sudden she was literally saying the same thing about Hugh. I was a bit baffled.

Plus..the book was depressing. Really gloomy. And very New Agey. And just not in a way I liked.

I'd have adored this book if it had all been just about the island. The incredible writing, the raw and special BEAUTY of how this woman (Sue Monk Kidd) writes is vivid and beautiful. I just was not wild about the story line.

I also did not get what she said about how their love ( her and Brother Tom’s), wasn’t meant for such mundane things as washing socks or living together. Then is it really love at all? I had to wonder. Jesse's marrying herself to the sea was a little out there but I love the sea too so I could understand that. And the images of the island made me want to go there. Very mixed feelings.


And so much time was spent on the mom's story line as well as the story of her dad which broke my heart but was to painful for me to read without skimming..The book was a celebration in a way of life and living and I get that and I deeply respect some of the messages in this book. But the book as a whole was not for me.

I picked this up at the faaaaabulous Reno book sale, and I'm not sure why. I really hated this same author's "The Secret Life of Bees," but I figured it'd be worth a try.

I was surprised to find that I liked it, even if it read like a mixture of the Thorn Birds and a Lifetime movie. It's about a woman in her forties who is bored with her life. Her mom, who lives back on ye olde island that the daughter never goes back to (her dad died, all kinds of bad memories, yada yada), has cut off her finger with a meat cleaver. She goes back to take care of her mom, deal with the island, deal with her husband's death, and, oh yeah, have daily sex with a monk who's questioning his relationship with God.

Kinda trashy but the writing is actually pretty decent, and it was enjoyable to read. However, the author likes to use symbolism but doesn't trust that her readers understand it, so a lot of time is spent telling us things we could probably figure out, for example, that water is a symbol of sensuality. Even if you didn't know that in the beginning, you'd know it after ten pages of reading about the intensely erotic relationship the main character has with it and the many erotic paintings she has created in an erotic, watery, sensuous kind of way. Because the water, you see, is erotic. And sensuous. And it makes her sensual and whole again. In a very erotic way. Like water.

That said, it's enjoyable book to read. I applaud the author trying to get deep, and there's some nice writing, but gawd, someone tell her to stop hitting her readers over the head with the metaphorical stick. Or maybe it's an erotic stick. I'll have to get back to you on that one.

I liked this alot, in spite of my predilection not to once I realized the gist of the story. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as The Secret Life of Bees... it was exceptionally well-written, definitely better than most of the stuff I have been reading. It was relevant and I think prompted reflection on my general psychological well-being and state. But I couldn't help but feel like it wasn't fresh... to me. Some of what the main character Jessie learned I feel like I already knew. So I didn't relish the spectacular affair she had with Brother Thomas, because I knew all along how it would end. That part wasn't a discovery for me.

Where I think Kidd's true strength is, is in her writing about family ties and how they influence us. Jessie's relationship with her father was the most poignant for me, and the most true. I felt like her mother was pathetic and this part of the story, about the women-bonds in Jessie's life, didn't really ring true. The story was about Jessie's relationships with men and how her father impacted those.

Having said I enjoyed it and it prompted reflection on my own life, I was vaguely uneasy with all the psychological posturing in the book. I guess it was an integral part of the character's journey, but it was a little too self-conscious, particularly when shared from the viewpoint of Hugh.

Although I prefer her first novel, I would recommend this one and I'll read anything else she puts out. I think this novel may be more profound than I am giving it credit for... perhaps because, as I've said, what Jessie discovered about her need for self just didn't seem like news to me.

Oh my goodness! I was a little reluctant to read another Sue Monk Kidd book, having loved The Secret Life Of Bees so much. I was terrified of being disappointed.
Well, The Mermaid Chair does not disappoint in anyway. So beautifully written that I actually re read some paragraphs for sheer enjoyment.
This is a lovely story about a woman finding herself & her history & becoming comfortable with it all. It's also about her mother & an amazing group of friends.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves reading narrative, descriptive & engaging books. This is beautiful.

I have to think on this before writing a full review. I loved some of the writing in the prologue and hoped that it would continue throughout the book. There were glimpses and the ending paragraph, but I wanted more of her descriptive and reflective prose. The overall story was good, I liked the setting, I was very interested in what was going on with the MC's mother, I even was okay with how everything concluded, but one of the pieces was distasteful to me and kept me from being all in. Like I said I'll think on this to see if I can capture my feelings about the novel.