An interesting book which fell flat for me towards the end.

I don't give away too much in my spoiler, more a general feeling for the book. However, if you do plan to read it, don't read the spoiler.



A woman who has a successful marriage - well-adjusted daughter, loving husband - goes off to Egret Island off South Carolina. She's there, where she grew up, to take care of her mother, a widow and a cook for the brothers at a nearby monastery. It seems her mother has cut off one of her fingers in some kind of madness - or is it penance? This is one of those 'inward-looking' stories where the MC is constantly questioning herself, examining her life and revisiting the past, because despite having it all, she's just ... not ... happy.

(Yeah, well come on, all writers and readers know that (in books) no one 'has it all!')

She falls in love with a monk; her life moves through a series of ups and downs; there's a denouement and explanation for why she's on the island; why she fell in love outside of marriage; and why her mother is obsessed with the local 'mermaid chair' located in the monastery.



This book is similar in many respects to another of Kidd's books, 'The Invention of Wings,' which I recently read. There are themes of the difficult 'mother-daughter' relationship, as well as the importance of travel and distance, of moving over the water, of deep reflection within one's natural surroundings. However, 'Wings' is a much more mature and balanced book; 'Mermaid Chair' is more of a traditional 'woman's read.' This isn't a criticism, but it's the kind of book my mother would have loved.

So three stars, a fair read.

Well this bored me to tears. Empty pointless story. It had slight potential but it seemed the author was not skilled enough to get anywhere near pulling it off. It was so bad that it made me wonder if a ghostwriter was used for The Secret Life of Bees, I just can't fathom how these are written by the same person.

I did not like this book.

That’s not entirely accurate. I loved the religious themes that ran through this book, I loved the stories of growing up on an island, I loved the Mermaid aspect of this story.

So why the rating of “did not like?” I’m really tired of stories where the lead character decides they need to drastically change their life. Then they run off through either some decision they consciously make or through some twist of fate (as in this case) to “find” themselves. While finding themselves they find (surprise!) a new love interest. At this point they find themselves madly and inexplicably in LOVE with someone they met 10 minutes ago. They decide to walk away from a secure (albeit bland) life and a stable (albeit ordinary) lover/spouse who has given them a lifelong commitment.

After making the decision to leave the said stable relationship the lead character always (and I mean ALWAYS) manages to convince themselves (and the reader) that it isn’t just “lust” that draws them into this new relationship—oh no, it’s TRUE LOVE. This new person is the person they were meant to be with.

So they plunge into this new relationship (often without ending the first one) with great bliss. Headlong into the great unknown. Romping around, rolling in the hay, having a grand ole time convinced they are in love and life will be like this for the rest of their days. Nothing could be better. Nothing could end this bliss. This is what life is meant to be.

And then……yep. Then another plot twist either separates the two new lovers, or throws the lead character back into the path of the stable relationship.

And lo and behold……it turns out the new relationship isn’t all that great. And the first relationship is what they really need. (Smacks head loudly….d’oh!)

And now our beloved lead character leaves the new-found love and goes back to the first love.

And they live happily-ever-after.

I’m really tired of authors using this device/plot. Really tired of it. I feel it cheapens the importance of marriage or a committed relationship, and makes the lead character (typically a woman) look naive and well, let’s be honest, like an idiot. (Okay…that’s overly harsh. It makes the woman look less than insightful at best.)

Let’s call a spade a spade. The lead character wanted to have a steamy affair with their new-found love interest. And they felt guilty because they were already married. So they convinced themselves that they were at a point in their life where they needed to change and they found this amazing new person who could love who they now are. Why not just admit they want to have an affair and damn the consequences? At least have the decency to be honest with themselves and the reader about it.

Sigh. Time to step off my soap box.

I suppose this book hit me at just the wrong moment. There were parts I loved. But the overall plot frustrates me. It presents a stereo-type of women that doesn’t sit well with me. It is possible to “find” yourself while still honoring your commitments and keeping your integrity intact. And that’s a plot line I’d like to see more of!

I got about 120 pages into this book before throwing it across the room. Boring. And that lead character is so melodramatic, I couldn't stand to continue. Who vomits over someone else's severed finger without even SEEING it? Honestly. I worry I no longer enjoy reading after Mom died. Nothing I've read lately has sparked any kind of love for literature in me.

Jesse goes back home, to visit with her mother who is apparently cutting off her fingers in a rash display of abnormal behavior. While on the island, she comes across a monk that she eventually falls in love with. The problem is that Nell is married and has a grown daughter. The story goes back and forth between caring for the mother and the love affair between Nell and the monk.

It is not very well written, and at times reminded me a lot of the "Ya Ya Sisterhood". Everything seemed very "surface". In between the loose fragments of story there was a tale about a Mermaid Chair and the author kept going back to it but I never really felt it tied the story lines together other than providing an island backdrop for the story.

Initially I didn't mind it too much as it is Summer, and it was based on an island.. seemed like easy reading, but then it got silly and didn't really amount to anything. I don't think I will read another book by this author again.

I found much to like in this book. The subject is edgy and it deals with experiences most of us have lived through. We have either played the role of Jessie "I want some time apart." Hugh, the receiver of Jessie's declaration, or Brother Thomas: a not completely innocent bystander. (I think in the state she was in, it could just as likely have been another man.)

Sue Monk Kidd gets inside the minds of these characters and writes knowingly about the inner conflicts and turmoil each one experiences. She defines her relationship with Hugh in two telling statements: she refers to Hugh as a "benevolent puppeteer" and in another place, in a conversation with Whit, Jessie thought, "It had been so long since I'd had a conversation like this."
 
Haven't these kinds of conversations been too few and too far between for most of us?

On to what I liked. Sue Monk Kidd gives us some relief from the pain of the participants by means of her beautiful writing, humor, references to a few books and authors, paintings, and other literary gems you will find for yourself.

Each reader will find their own pleasures.

A few of mine were: the definition of rebooting, Dominic's offer to take brother Thomas to see a TV show about the shooting of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, the story of two suns, and "if sex is a conversation...."

In The Mermaid Chair, Sue Monk Kidd provides one of the finest opening lines in any novel. A beautiful story about the choices and challenges women face in middle age.

My first book by the author and I really liked her writing. Several difficult themes form the story and I thought they were handled very well.
Discontented and restless in her 20 year marriage,Jessie is called back to the little island she grew up on, because her mother needs her. Having totally changed from the happy, smiling person she was before Jessie's father died in a boat fire, her mother now seems to be desperately trying to make amends for something and is very troubled. While trying to figure out how to help her, Jessie meets and falls in love with one of the monks in the monastery next to her mother's house.
The monastery, the mermaid chair there and the legend surrounding it all have significance in her life. As she grapples with her new reality and guilt at betraying her husband Hugh, who is a wonderful man she doesn't want to hurt, the reasons for her mother's behaviour seem to her to lie in their past.
The story and the relationship Jessie has and her conviction of what is good for her at this stage of life raised some questions which the author addressed very nicely.
The beauty of female friendship also forms an important part of the narrative.

Overall I found this a very nice read and her other books are already on my to be read list.

This book came out in 2004 but I've been seeing copies of it all over my town lately. It's been a very weird coincidence seeing it at every store that sells books, so I made the jump. The universe was telling me I had to read it, clearly. Do I believe the universe tells me things? Not always, but it was just getting obnoxious seeing the pretty cover everywhere so I decided... why not? I read all the books anyways, might as well read this one.

I enjoyed this book but it wasn't the best book I've ever read. It was an easy read with an easy to follow storyline, but man... the ending frustrated me. Sue Monk Kidd wrote The Secret Life of Bees, which I enjoyed but I didn't connect with it (no surprise there if you know the subject material). I did love her writing style though and I am a fan!

This book follows a woman named Jesse who is essentially having a midlife crisis, and her Mom cuts off her own finger. She goes back to the island where she grew up, and where her Father died, and tries to figure out what's going on with her Mom. Throw in a storyline where she believes she helped kill her Father, her Mother also seemingly having some kind of midlife crisis, and a monk that Jesse falls madly in love with... while her teenaged daughter and her loving husband are back home. There doesn't seem to be many problems in their relationship, but hey... there's a hot monk willing to have a good time with you around flocks of birds. Why not have some fun while you are away and infuriate your husband who has a specialty in psychology/mental health while you are at it?

The story is all over the place but also very interesting because it's so full of these big hitting moments. Also, the mermaid chair is literally a chair that has mermaids on it in the monk's religious home. There are some myths and stories about it, but it's not a big part of the story like you'd think it would be.

My overall thoughts: This was a great book that I was able to read while drifting off to sleep. It's easy to understand, has enough random plot twists to keep me awake, but also wasn't incredibly engaging because of some of the odd decisions characters make. I like it and I'd read more books by Sue Monk Kidd, but I'm not desperately looking for more books like this one.

Other readers will absolutely love it, but it didn't knock it out of the park for me.

Three out of five stars.

I really liked the beginning of this book. I especially liked the stories about, the main character, Jesse's childhood, growing up on an island with strong traditions and a close feeling of community, the rituals she shared with her father, his magical thinking and storytelling and the special relationship they shared.

There were quite a few surprises in this story. I had no idea what Jesse's mother had done and was shocked by it. When Jesse goes back home to the little island to help care for her mother she spends a lot of time focused on herself. Which made me think of her as selfish and self-centered and I started to like her less because of it. I appreciated that she was having a mid-life crisis but I thought she could have had it while being more attentive to her mother.


(Spoiler alert)
We know from the book jacket that she falls in love with a monk but I would have enjoyed the story more if the author hadn't allowed Jesse to act on her feelings for Father Thomas. As it was the feeling "in love with" and thinking she was "in love with" a man she just met felt very adolescent. But when she acted on her feelings it really spoiled the book for me.

I think many of the same issues of marriage, maintaining your identity, knowing and loving yourself could have been explored just as well (maybe better) without the infidelity.

3.75 ⭐️ Not bad

This is the second novel by Sue Monk Kidd that I’ve read, and I loved it. Jessie, the protagonist, reluctantly goes back to her remote island home, leaving behind her college-aged daughter, and psychiatrist husband of twenty years, Hugh. She needs to help her mother who’s recovering from a self inflicted injury. The moment Jessie arrives on Egret Island, the story becomes both a love story, a mystery, and a mystical, spiritual journey. Ms. Kidd wields language with the skill and beauty of a poet. She’s my new favorite author, and, as soon as I finished The Mermaid Chair, I picked up The Secret Life of Bees.