I felt that I could thoroughly relate to this story of a woman waking up one day to realize that the life she has constructed for herself through 20 years of marriage - good wife, loving mother, etc. - is generic and empty. As she muses at the outset of the novel, Jessie Sullivan has lived for over 40 years and "never done anything extrordinary." This sentiment resonated with me because I believe that many of us have such feelings as we approach mid-life. It is the basis of the mid-life crisis. In this context, I did not have a difficult time accepting her affair with Brother Thomas. I understood that she had felt smothered in her role of housewife, confused by her newly-shed role of mother (her daughter had just started college), and needed some authentic experiences of her own to revive her. She later gained perspective on what she had done, the selfishness of her actions, the hurt she caused in others, and accepted ownership of it all. I did not dislike her, but found her to be a "real" person.

The writing in this novel is stunning, with beautiful island descriptions, tales of mermaid mythology and ritual, and wonderful, realistic internal and external dialogue. I listened to this novel on audiotape, and perhaps that heightened my experience, but I felt that I could picture the island, Jessie's home in Atlanta, her paintings, the estuaries and everything else described. Sue Monk Kidd's powers of description are phenomenal.

This book felt derivative and overwrought. I really only kept reading to find out why mom chopped her finger off. I felt like it fetishized women's friendships, as even better books sometimes do (Secrets of the Ya-ya Sisterhood, etc.). I've never really understood that. I grew up in a family of all girls, and at any given time, 80-100% of my friends have been other women, but I don't see making a religion out of it, complete with arcane rituals and cultish secrecy. I was also annoyed by the whole love story, which probably isn't the emotion the author was trying to elicit from me. They had, what, a grand total of five minutes of conversation over three different encounters before the were confessing their love and betraying all sorts of vows? And yes, falling in love is much more exciting that loving your husband once the hormones wear off, which is why people like Elizabeth Taylor and a few less famous folks keep thinking, "This time it's for real!" But nobody with common sense really thinks marriage is about the great sex you have when your body is releasing all those chemicals, even though it's sure a fun way to start off. And don't get me started on the folksy island Gullah stories, or the out-of-nowhere solution to the book's central mysteries.

I couldn't quite give it a three. Although I do respect the author's attempt at trying to immerse us in her lead character's head as the wife who seemingly has it all decides she needs to make amends with her past and stretch her wings. It is hard work creating a sympathetic character who selfishly hurts the ones she is supposed to love. Sue Monk Kidd didn't succeed with Jessie. I really tried to give Jessie the benefit of the doubt but this middle-aged woman came off as maniacally selfish and naive as an eighteen-year-old. I really hated how she treated her husband (I actually thought Sue did a decent job crafting his caring, yet clinically detached character) and left her daughter in the dark. I didn't like how Jessie arrived back home to supposedly assist her mom deal with her morbid pattern of hacking off digits, but mainly ignored her mom and obsessed about herself. The relationship with the monk was beyond belief and uncomfortably Harlequin romancy. Ugh.

And it doesn't help that The Secret Life of Bees was so damn good. This book is not in the same league. Sorry, Sue. I know writing books is hard. Better luck next time!

When I saw that this book was on the goodreads "unpopular" shelve, I decided to write a review on why I liked this book. I have a thing about sticking up for an underdog.

Probably the most stated reason that this book is unpopular is because readers compare and contrast it to the author's previous award winning work, The Secret Life of Bees. I think that people who loved the Secret Life must have anticipated that Monk Kidd's follow up would somehow cater to the same audience, and then they were disappointed.

I have not yet completely read the Secret Life, but my English Department is picking it up as a contemporary novel for the curriculum. The decision to make this book required reading for YA's alone tells me that these two books are in totally separate interest categories.

So, why did I like this book? Probably because I loved the setting and could identify with the main character Jesse. If you hold at least four of the six following qualifications you may well like this book:

1 - 30 to 40 something female
2 - Raised Catholic
3 - Love stories about east coast U.S. and old island settlements
4 - Been married for 10+ years
5 - Have a least one child within a few years of of leaving the nest

And this one is not necessary, but it helps...

6 - Have a family story about a kinswoman being involved with an ex Benedictine priest (no, this is not me, but there is a story in my family tree).

I can well understand that many readers don't fit more than two or three of these descriptions, but I happen to be that reader and the Mermaid Chair just happens to be a book for someone like me.

In spite of the author's obvious gifts as a writer and some compelling well-drawn secondary characters, The Mermaid Chair left me unconvinced and feeling more than a little irritated with Jessie, Kidd's selfish protagonist. It was hard to feel sympathy for her. She has, by all accounts, a kind, faithful, considerate, and highly responsible husband, and a grown daughter, and she's willing (even eager) to hurt and forsake them both to hook up with a monk.

Descriptions of Egret Island off the coast of South Carolina were stunning enough to almost carry the book--almost. 3 stars rounded up from 2.5

Struggled between 2 and 3 stars with this but I think in general I am overly generous with my stars and this is my first step toward nipping that in the bud. They're stars, for crying out loud. All celestial and what-not. They shouldn't be meted out lightly, people!

For me the best part of this book, and really the only part that didn't frustrate the ever loving hell out of me, were Kidd's descriptions of the South Carolinian barrier island which served as backdrop to this fairly ridiculous love story. Oh, and I use the word 'love' with great reluctance b/c believe me, it is bandied about in the book with absolute carelessness! Kidd was really very good in detailing the flora and fauna of the island and created a rather amazing picture. A portrait that made me actually want to visit such a place.

Given my appreciation for her imagery, it's pretty obvious what I thought of the remainder of Kidd's work - hello, two stars. Here are some words in an attempt to summarize: implausible, utterly predictable, overwrought, hackneyed...I think that's more than enough. It's not that I don't have an appreciation for the idea Kidd was presenting - just not a fan of her execution.

I wasn't much for her first novel, 'The Secret Life of Bees' and suppose I should have figured it out with that one. I have now.

3.5 rating

The Mermaid Chair is a re-read for me. I read it many years ago before I had a Goodreads account.

I love how comforting this story is. It's set on the coast of South Carolina in a made-up town called, Egret Island. As a girl who grew up in Savannah, GA on the marsh, I enjoyed all the references to the animals and people who live near the marshlands.

An exceptional read! Ate it up in a single afternoon!

I've rated Sue Monk Kidd's second novel "The Mermaid Chair" five stars, because I don't know how better to express the depth of liking I have for this book, reviewed here immediately after I finished reading it for the second time.

Perhaps it resonates so strongly for me because it's about a woman (Jessie) with a Catholic background who lost her beloved father years earlier than she should have. While there is not a lot else I can identify with (and my Dad was 70, after all) the emotional turmoil Jessie suffers, the conflicts of belief and rationality, certainly ring true for me. Put it this way, when Jessie cries for her long lost father towards the end of the novel, I cried for mine too.

Jessie is married to a psychiatrist, Hugh, with a daughter away at college. Already suffering from what could too-simply be described as 'empty nest syndrome' in a marriage that has grown stale, she is summoned home to Egret Island, one of the barrier islands off the Carolina coast.

Her mother has done something completely inexplicable, and Jessie has been called by her mother's friends back to the island where she grew up, and where her father died.

But that brief synopsis does not begin to describe the power of this beautiful story to move the reader. Most of the novel is told in first-person narrative by Jessie, with some chapters being a third person account of the novice monk she meets on the island - Brother Thomas.

I don't want to spoil the story for anyone who hasn't yet read it, but let me just say that if you have a longing for salt-sea breezes, sand between your toes, beach flotsam, mermaid tales and the lives of obscure saints, you'll find all that and more in The Mermaid Chair.

I loved this book. I could see its story being a beautiful, quirky movie. With not the greatest of goodreads ratings, I am mystified as to why. Sue Monk Kidd is such a graceful, intelligent, free-spirited writer. I suggest readers of this book abandon cynicism and daily reality doldrums and instead embrace your heart full of dreams and folklore, with the open understanding of others' life choices. This novel, full of artful mermaid, ocean love, is relevant and faithful, an inquisitive bookclub choice, and such a visual sea-full and soulful journey of independence.

NO.
NO!

Give me a break. There is NOT love at first sight. LUST.
Not love! Whatever. That just pisses me off and sets a pissy tone for the rest of the book.

Bored woman goes to take care of crazy mom on island that is full of monks. Woman sees monk says "oh, I'm in love, he's part of my soul!" Monk sees woman and decides he's in love. (had nothing to do with not getting any for several years) They screw like rabbits, she decides to stay with her husband and he decides not to take his final vows. Oh, and mom reveals reason for dad's death... no longer crazy.

blah blah blah.

Sorry this is a craptastic review, but the whole "love at first" sight stuff got me all grouchy.

I really enjoyed this book because I thought the author gave a nice twist to what seems to begin a Romance Novel. In the end, the message ends up being about the independence and self-fulfillment of the main character. I thought the colorful characters really added to what makes the novel unique...like the mentally disturbed finger hacking mother, her eccentric life-long friends, and a troop of Benedictine monks. The most important point that I took away from this read was that it's never too late to offer forgiveness, even if they might not accept the gesture.