I’m going to admit that I enjoyed The Mermaid Chair more than The Secret Life of Bees, however, I don’t exactly think it was that memorable or great, either. I enjoyed the myths and legends, the setting of the island, and all the colorful and magical descriptions, but other than that, I was kind of lost in the religious aspect and what I felt was a slow progression of the story.

I see that several reviewers don’t like the plot line of a woman discovering her Self, especially when such discovery involves infidelity. The implication is that the author is taking the easy way out with this plot ‘trick’. I disagree.

In The Mermaid Chair, Kidd takes pains to explain. In the words of the character Hugh, a psychiatrist:
“...when a person was in need of cataclysmic change, of a whole new center in the personality, for instance, his or her psyche would induce an infatuation, an erotic attachment, an intense falling-in-love.”

I loved this book. Sue Monk Kidd is on the verge of becoming my new favourite author. After I read the three of her books that I have lined up and waiting, I’ll know for sure.

The only reason that I finished this book is because it was for one of my book clubs. The romance between Jessie and the other person was perhaps realistic but her descriptions of their relationship and her feelings were YA at the best IMO.

The only redeeming part of the book and that made me rate it a 2 instead of a 1 was the backstory between Jessie and her father.

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.

"The Mermaid Chair" is a story that takes place during that unsure stage of middle age, where the nest is empty, the marriage is old and comfortable, and one thinks, "Now what?"

When Jessie Sullivan receives a shocking call about her mother's act of self-mutilation, she is forced to return to Egret Island, the place where she grew up and then fled...the place where her father died in a boat explosion. Once she gets there, she finds herself infatuated with a monk, and struggling to balance helping her mother and trying to pull her life together.

Although I wouldn't technically call this book a mystery, it certainly has elements of mystery in it. Kidd expertly weaves Jessie's story around mythology and the culture of the islands off of South Carolina, and slowly reveals the secrets of Jessie's past. I love the way that the author eases you into it, and carefully gives the reader peeks into the characters' lives.

I really enjoyed this book. Along with the mythology and legends mixed into the book, the reader gets a glimpse of life as a monk, and being a devout Catholic. These are other elements that are appealing to the curios reader.

Very disappointed in this book since I loved "The Secret Life of Bees". The best thing I can say about it is that it is highly readable...an easy summer read. I believe in lust at first site, a spark that makes you want to get to know someone, etc. No matter how hard I tried, I could not wrap myself around the decision of a woman to leave a husband of 20 years and a monk to turn his back on the monastery on the basis of a first glance after which both proclaimed being in love. And if you can't buy into this, then you can't buy into the book. Also, the women characters engage in silly symbolic gestures, the kind that you enjoy at age 10. The author does not let you glean any meaning for yourself. She describes her paintings and then points out their (very) obvious psychological interpretations. I don't think she gives her readers much credit. If a reader wants a simple summer read and finds a forbidden romance titillating, this is the book for you. I would pass, however, if I had it to do again.

Jessie, the main character in the book, is having her mid-life crisis. In a big way. The book is written mostly from her point of view and begins with a statement (and I am paraphrasing b/c I don't have the book in front of me) that when she was above all else the mother to Dee and wife to Hugh, she fell in love with a benedictine monk. So, right off the bat, I was thinking "Ok. This woman has some issues she is going to have to go through if she is mainly identifying herself through the roles others see her playing...wife, mother." But, I never really understood why she was compelled to do some of the things she does, like actually have the affair, or push her mother to the All Girls picnic, or chase after the ducks in the mud. And, the first time she sees Brother Thomas, she is in love. I just find that hard to fathom...a 40-something in that love/lust phase of tweeners. But falling head-over-heels after one conversation with someone just did not make sense to me. Maybe when I am a 40-something, it will be more apparent or easy to comprehend. There was just a lot in this book that seemed rambling to me. A lot of it was her describing her path of self discovery which could have been very cool but the writing would start out with ... (again, paraphrasing)..."I don't know how to put it into words what I was feeling" Then, go on for (what seemed like) pages of description about, well, what she was feeling. It just kind of seemed like a cop out of a writing technique. But, towards about 3/4 of the way through the book, I kind of begain to understand the why's and the who's so am glad I stuck with it. I don't think it was really love with Brother Thomas, just the need to take a break from the monotony of her 'real' life and to feel something - anything - again. So, all in all, I liked it well enough, just was not blown away.

My feelings about Thomas had been such a muddle. I'd let them slosh around in my like dirty water in the bottom of a boat, but now, sitting in the mermaid chair, I felt the sediment settle to the bottom, and everything was very clear to me. I wanted him with an almost ferocious desire. (PG 113)

I'm not going to review this book in a way where I'll look back and be embarrassed about what I strongly wrote about but I am going to be honest:::

I hated this book. I really thought it was about mermaid's somehow, somewhere. In a sentence, it was about an unhappy woman that just wants an affair because she feels her life hasn't had enough adventure. I personally do not like books with the cheating theme because there's that feeling that the author is trying to endorse it to the reader like a subtle "It's okay because you're unhappy and you deserve better." The husband was written in such a sweet way. He was kind, funny, attentive, and handsome. Why couldn't Jessie just have had a conversation with him telling him she needed a vacation alone or talk about her feelings? Are we as a society worried to have feelings and look weak?

I don't know the answer but I didn't like the story line, the characters, and the melancholy atmosphere. Jessie was just a privileged, bored housewife that started acting like a lovesick teenager after meeting a handsome boy in 10 minutes except she was middle-aged and had a mortgage.

I would NOT recommend this.

The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd takes place in the early 2000’s on Egret Island, South Carolina. The story centers around Jessie Sullivan, a woman in her early forties, who returns to her childhood home on the island to care for her mentally ill mother. While on the island, Jessie embarks on a journey of self-discovery, confronting her past and reassessing her life and marriage. Jessie appears as if she is going through a mid-life crisis. Possibly brought on by her care for her mother and being back in her childhood home. The book lacked connection and dragged frequently. I prefer strong female characters and Jessie doesn’t fit that characteristic. Jessie doesn’t really fit anywhere and then the intimate encounters with a monk. That did it in for me.

This book is so corny it will pass straight through you, undigested.

Having read 2 other books from Sue Monk Kidd and rating those 5 stars, I was keen to read this book but was left very disappointed.

The story follows Jessie, as she travels back to the island she grew up on to try and help her mother after she cut off her own finger. The theme is about Jessie’s ‘finding herself’ after her daughter has moved away and her relationship with her husband becomes stagnant. She is at the point in her life when she needs and welcomes some excitement and also finds that she needs to discover more about the mysterious death of her Father when she was a child. There are some religious issues raised and this book also seems to resonate with women of a certain age that have had similar experiences as Jessie.

I’m not sure if I missed the point, or if I am too young, or if it’s because I don’t have children but I really didn’t understand why things happened the way that they did. I liked the characters and enjoyed the writing. I followed the storyline and enjoyed the book as a read but it didn’t ‘connect’ with me. I cared what happened enough to finish the book but didn’t find myself excited by what I was reading. I guess this book was just not for me.

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.