great book and hot

loved it. I enjoyed this book very much. I liked the element of mystery as well as the unconventional aspects of the qhole story. Well done Emma Holly and thank you again xoxo

A m/m/f menage book, but actually found the m/m interaction and sex scenes sweeter and hotter than the m/f.

Overall an ok read.

Holly is a good writer, the sex is sexy, and the characters are interesting, but the paranormal element here is really ridiculous and distracting.

Forget Shades of Grey--this is hot.

If you like your smut with a bit of physics, this one's for you. I know I do;)

Not only did this have the proper amount of enjoyable smut, the story was well written.

I actually really liked this book. It turned out really sweet at the end.

Weird stuff, but OK.

pretty good book.

caliente

This book has been recommended to me multiple times, and I finally got around to reading it this Mother's Day.

It's definitely a book that needed to be written, and I gave it five stars because I don't know of another book that addresses this important subject as well as The Dance of the Dissident Daughter (If you do, please tell me, because I would love to read it). Kidd's description of her awakening to how male-centric her religion was really struck a chord with me. As a Mormon, I found it fascinating that many of the Christian doctrines she cites (such as the maligning of Eve, or the lack of a female divinity) are actually rectified in my own faith. But on a practical level, in spite of our more egalitarian doctrines, the attitudes of many church members toward women (and some of the things I hear from the pulpit) are the same as Kidd describes.

I didn't connect as much to the second half of the book, where she describes all the interesting things she did to connect with the Sacred Feminine. I don't really feel a need to do Jungian psychoanalysis or make string mazes through the forest. She also seemed to shift from wanting to connect with God to connecting with the divine within herself. They're certainly related, but I thought she conflated them, perhaps excessively. Still, many of her suggestions (e.g. meditation, sacred space, making a shift from living vicariously through others) are helpful. Also included in the Notes section is a sort of informal bibliography, which I will definitely be checking out for further reading.

The one bizarre thing is that Kidd appears to assume that every woman's journey will be virtually identical to hers. She is constantly extrapolating her own experience, even very specific bits of it, and prognosticating that every woman will go through a similar moment. I actually did find myself relating to her experience in many, many particulars, but I can see how someone might find her constant assumption that she is a sort of archetype for "everywoman" annoying.

All in all, an enlightening book, and definitely worth a read if you have any interest at all in the Sacred Feminine.

Porn without plot. It just wasn't for me, despite the science fiction angle.

I like this book. It has parts that make it more of a women's book than universal (and definitely not a guys book). It is a good companion to Richard Rohr's Falling Upward (Rohr seems to often write for men, so perhaps his book is at the opposite end of that spectrum).

Kidd is able to weave together complicated ideas with common everyday (or at least seasonal) experiences like the caterpillar molting. I really appreciate her story telling and candor.

It was wonderful to revisit this book and remember how essential it is that women (and men) find their own spiritual path, regardless of how it looks to others. As women, we have a specific wall to scale - our patriarchal culture, even though it has evolved quite a bit in both Kidd's and my lifetime, still has an oppression that is centuries old. We can't ignore the deepest ingrained sexism and misogyny that lurks everywhere. We don't have to make it the focus of our lives, but it is essential to remember that it exists and that it affects us.

Kidd has some great stories of how she handles this oppression, from making impromptu rituals, to traveling to sacred sites of the Ancient Goddess. This is a wonderful book for any woman who is leaving her religious upbringing and finding her own path.

This book was a most therapeutic read during a difficult time in my life. For anyone battling depression, I highly recommend this book as a non-sensational, authentic, sober approach to dealing effectively with depression.

I loved this book. I wanted to devour it, but instead I took my time and read a little bit most mornings, when the house was quiet and I could take my time and really think about what she was saying.

The references to Mother Goddess and feminine power made me uncomfortable and that really interested me. As I got further into the book I was able to unpack some of the reasons why I felt that way through what SMK was experiencing herself.

I really loved her references to Gnostic Christianity and also her unpacking of the role of Ariadne in the myth of the Minotaur and Theseus, and the way that story has changed over time as our society has cultivated a more patriarchal interpretation of stories.

This is one that’s going to sit with me for a while, and I’ll be working through/pondering a lot of it for a long time to come. No doubt I’ll be revisiting it often. What a treat.

Points for originality! And science. This one certainly takes off in an interesting direction, adding a (rare) almost sff element to the story. Nothing about this one is remotely real-world, but that actually works out to its benefit. Holly creates three interesting characters and actually draws believable, real feeling from them in the midst of a somewhat ridiculous backdrop. It's a rare sexy book that makes me think, but this one did.

This was much more than I expected. I thought this would be a story similar to In the Flesh, with two complicated men in a relationship, and they (unsuccessfully) add a female. In the Flesh was not a romance with a satisfying HEA. I read Strange Attractions regardless because the excerpt intrigued me. It is a really good story - the two men are interesting and complicated, especially the genius physicist. The lead female is great too. The quantum theory added into the plot is just on this side of realistic. And the HEA was sweet. I’m so glad the story didn’t devolve into dysfunctional woe-is-me stuff. Definitely recommend. Cannot tell at all that this was written 11+ years ago.

Bought from kobo

To say this book is full of

n  n

would be a total understatemnt. Sexual tension is all part of the sex games they play at B.G. Grantham's estate. This story has a very dark and unique plot with lots of twists, turns and mystery. The sexual dynamic between Charity, Eric and B.G. is one of the best I've ever read.

"This book is introducing readers to the lost history of the sacred feminine and to the jolting idea that God can be visualized in feminine ways." (Sue Monk Kidd)

I read this based on a high recommendation from a trusted reading friend. This is Christian religious feminism, which is a type of feminist writing I've not read before. I am used to angry feminist writing, most of which makes me yell (excuse the language) "Fuck the patriarchy!" This is definitely feminist, but more gentle.

I liked her imagery in the section "The Feminine Wound" of a deep wound all girls and women feel as they discover and encounter patriarchy. "For girls there is always a moment when the earnest, endearing assumption of equality is lost".

Another I liked from this section: "the flat-out truth is that we have come into a world, into a church or faith tradition, that for milennia has believed us inferior. It is a tradition permeated by an authoritarian attitude that devalues, diminshes, rejects, and limits women and the feminine."

From "Forming a Feminist Critique: "Betrayal of any kind is hard, but betrayal by one's religion is excruciating. It makes you want to rage and weep. It deposits a powerful energy inside."

I also thought this was funny "it is high time people relized that God is more than two men and a bird."

There is a lot to like here, and my critiques are that it is repetitive, and that her writing can lean towards being precious. "You know the feeling you get when you stumble on a moment like some great mystery has brushed your shoulder?" Too many moments like that in a row lose their impact for me.

A great recommendation and I will be thinking about this book for a long time.

I ordered this book from the library on a whim while researching something else and then discovered that it's been on my To Read list for a long time. Apparently, it was time. I devoured this book in only a few days while taking pages of notes, journaling furiously and recording several quotes that I plan to use creatively as part of my continued journey.

I recognized a lot of myself in this book because this journey to the Divine Feminine is ubiquitous at its core. The events of our journey are nothing alike and yet the connection is undeniable. I can't even say when exactly this journey began for me. It certainly wasn't a signpost dream like she had but it has a beginning and some day I may find it or maybe it doesn't matter.

It may have been in the small voice that questioned my Lutheran roots, asking my teachers and leaders WHY when things didn't make sense to me...which meant basically everything about Christianity. As it turns out, we weren't made for each other. It may have been that moment in business school when I realized that the simple stance my male classmate assumed when giving a presentation made him look casual and charismatic and would have led me to be sexualized and judged. It may have been when I had children of my own and began the process of discarding all of the traditions I grew up with in favor of things that held meaning for me which led me strongly toward the feminine Pagan traditions.

Who can say when the boulder started rolling? All I know is that it's been rolling strong for some time now and yet there is more to learn, more room to grow. Sometimes I forget and need a reminder and that's what this book was for me. It reawakened some things that were forgotten. It revitalized things that I had let go dormant. I am so grateful that this book came to me when it did and I am grateful to SMK for sharing her vulnerable, powerful, necessary, and deeply feminine story with all of us.

I tend to read books very, very quickly - one or two days, usually. So the fact that this one took me over 2 months to get through is really saying something. I found it to be so important at this time in my life that I wanted to make sure I read every word as carefully as possible so I wouldn't miss anything. If you're going through a big internal change right now, I can't recommend this enough.

Not nearly as inspirational or moving as author's first novel, Secret Life of Bees. Although VERY well written the subject matter was not pleasing and almost distasteful. I liked the monks side of the story and can more readily understand why he did what he did. In his case he was questioning his faith, his existence, everything and was reaching out to anything that might pull him back to Life. In the woman's case, she was simply bored and unfulfilled in her marriage and was searching for self rather than any meaning of Life. Anytime we put self ahead of all else we lose sight of everything meaningful. It's okay to do for yourself once in while - to refill your 'well' in order to give more to others but when the focus becomes totally inward we quickly lose sight of what's around us and miss our opportunities to serve and uplift others. The woman in the story was selfish and self-absorbed and hurt the people she loved most. Although I think perhaps she "got it" at the end of the novel I didn't much care for the journey.

Quick and easy inspiration, easy to pick up and read a quick section.
Didn’t realize SMK was that Christian. She notes other spiritual traditions as well.don’t let the God references deter you. She has a lot of wisdom, truth, authenticity and grit in these pages.

I do love Emma Holly's writing because I find her characters just so darn likeable. They get on with it and don't have all this tortured miscommunication and angst driven, repetitive inner dialogue which is more often than not very off putting, painful and intelligence insulting. Charity is down to earth, has a moment of contemplation about being with 2 strong, smart men but doesn't get bogged down, she is strong without being unbelievable and hey she takes those 2 guys on (plus a little more) and gets down with gusto. B G and Eric are opposites, have a strong bond and are lovely together and better still with Charity thrown into the mix. The sex is excellent and adventurous, the subplot(s) is enough to keep you turning those pages, there is M/M action as well as M/F/M so if guys together bothers you you may be barking up the wrong tree with this book, as for me I love it so bring it and I'll keep on reading.

Read this book as it was a selection for my book club.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed "The Secret Life Of Bees" by the same writer, I found this book to be a far different sort of read. In Bees, while I enjoyed the plot, it was the characters that I found myself hooked to. In "The Mermaid Chair" I found the plot to be only mildly entertaining and the characters lacking in development. The main character I found to be whiny, annoying, selfish, and someone I just couldn't connect to on any level. The other characters (Whit, Nelle, Hepzibah, Kat, and Benne) left me disappointed as well, although I did like them more than the protagonist. The latter characters had the potential for being interesting and moving, but still we weren't really allowed to connect to them as the reader, as we didn't get to see them enough. Whit (Brother Thomas) was the most developed of them all, in that you got to see his turmoil over his decision to enter to monestary, but the others were left 2 dimentional.

The narration also bothered me. The protagonist was the only character presented to us in the first person. The other narrator's perspectives (Whit and Hugh) were told in the 3rd person. This errked me in that I feel I MAY have been able to connect a little more with the protagonist's plight had the narration been 3rd person. Being 1st, she came across as I stated above: whiny, annoying, and selfish.

If anyone wants my copy of the book they are welcome to it. It’s not one I will recommend to anyone and certainly one I won’t reread in the future.

i didnt really like it it was a boring book i recamend you try it but i dont think u would like it

This book was really well written and compelling like all of Sue Monke Kidd's books, it's a novel about a womens sort of, coming of middle age, facing her troubled childhood, and falling in love in order to preserve the spark of energy that once lived inside her. i liked this book, but the thing that pissed me off about it was that it was still in some sort a coming of age novel about finding your true self or some shit like that. i mean the book was well thought out and everything but are coming of age novels the only thing in old Sue's repertoire... I'd like to see something new from her before she kicks the csn as they say lol.

Read this book years ago for a class in spiritual direction I took in grad school. Loved it and plan to reread it at some point

It was just okay for me. A bunch of short stories about people's life finding inspiration. Although, some stories were okay it didn't have much of the lesson's of life I guess I was looking for. Just seemed like alot of places where it came across this happened and this happened but not what they really got out of the lesson. Hard to explain what I'm trying to convey here. So I'll just let it go as it's okay but not life changing.

Assuming that most of us rate books based on how much we enjoyed the read & how well written it is, I'm struggling to understand the low ratings & dodgy reviews for this book. I'm glad I ignored them and went on a friend's recommendation. What Sue Monk Kidd has produced here is very different to 'Secret Life of Bees' but just as well written (beautifully so) & with a more interesting & in-depth plot. I was drawn in from the first sentence, felt emotionally attached to each and every one of the characters & however unreal some of the situations were the way they were written made them totally believable. Couldn't put it down; loved it.

Post Script

I have since looked up some of the other five star reviews and relieved to find loads of other readers with the same opinion!

This brought me back where I need to be.

This book has been a God-send to me throughout the years. I first read it during a difficult time in my life and it was instrumental in pulling me through. I have since bought copies for friends and relatives, some of whom feel the same way I do. For anyone dealing with a personal crisis or has ever faced an internal struggle at all, this book is a wonderful tool.

If I could give this book 10 stars here, I would. I cannot put into words how much this book has helped me. There were times in this book that I could not believe what I was reading because it was so similar to my own experience. This is the Bible for feminine awakening in my opinion.

I wish I was reading my own copy of this book because there were so many tidbits and profound thoughts that I would have loved to go highlight and go back to peruse and ponder later. This might just have to be a yearly reading for me.

I recommend this to any Christian woman who has ever struggled with depression, anxiety, lack of purpose, etc. I think we could rid the woman of the world of a lot of negative things by teaching them about the feminine divine and that it lives in you. We are all part of it and we need to see Her in ourselves.

Thank you, Sue Monk Kidd. I hope someday I can meet you so we can cry with happiness together. You are a beautiful mentor for me.

This is one of the most spiritual refreshing books I’ve read in a long time. I mostly listened to it on morning walks but would come back to the hard copy to write things down or underline. I appreciated Sue Monk Kidd’s vulnerability and resonated with her journey to appreciate seasons of waiting and allowing space for her authentic self to emerge in God. I was challenged and deeply encouraged. She won me over quickly by quoting Thomas Merton, Hildegard von Bingen, Henri Nouwen and many other spiritual writers.

“The soul craves experiences that offer it the rich depths of God. Silence, solitude, holy leisure, simplicity, prayer, journaling, the Eucharist, rituals that touch the space of Mystery, symbols and images, the Bible, laughter, delight in the Presence, deep encounters with creation, and the merciful coming together of human hearts. All these feed the soul, producing energy for living the transformed life. When I fail to feed my soul, I soon notice that I have less strength for living authentically…That’s when I need to return to deeper pockets and replenish my soul. There’s truth in Psalm 23: allowing oneself to be led by still waters really does restore the soul.”

Maybe it was just the wrong time to have read this book, but I hated the main character, found the "instant-love" ridiculous and decided that though the writing wasn't too bad the story is too contrived to actually be any good.

People probably think I give 5 stars to every book I read. Maybe the timing for me is 5 stars, but it's still a super book. I took my time reading it, taking it all in. "When the heart waits, the Great Mystery begins." Once again, thank Sue Monk Kidd for sharing this sacred season of your life.

My friend lent me this book for a day and I started to read it. I was amazed after only a few pages. The woman sounded like me. Like ME! So many of the thoughts and ideas she was presenting were familiar, even in the way she articulated them. When my friend returned to collect her book the next day, I went to Barnes and Noble and bought it. I finished reading it several days later with lots of marked up bits in the margins. It was like water on parched ground to read the true journey of a woman who was a product of a strongly patriarchal religious culture who wanted to find the divine feminine for her own soul's sake.

Now, lest you think that everything in the book resonated, there are a few things I want to point out in this review (but the book still highly deserves the five stars).

First, even though she makes a strong case for the divine feminine, the Goddess, Mother in Heaven, or whatever you want to call Her, she makes this lame-brained statement partway through the book about how, of course we all know that God actually has no gender whatsoever and that speaking of a female divine is just for our own sake . . . My note in the margin at the point was fairly explosive. From what I could see, she was backing down on everything that she had built up and come to find in her own soul. She had dismissed the glory of her own self and the glory of God. And why? The only reason I could find was to be politically correct. Well, bah.

Second, while the majority of the book is about her claiming the power and beauty of her own divine soul and basking in the glory of the divine feminine, there are moments in the book where she places her power outside of herself and tries to make it more mystical (dancing around a tortoise shell in the moonlight, for example). This cheapens the reality of her soul's journey. And it also puts her new found empowerment in a dangerous place: outside of herself where other influences can take it and twist it and manipulate it. These parts of the book didn't resonate with me. They didn't necessarily alarm me, but they didn't feed that place in my soul.

I recommend this book in conjunction with A God Who Looks Like Me.

This book is in the middle of an almost favorite to favorite book. I just loved how it was written and the story itself was really really good. It made me cry and thought me a lot about change, love, forgiveness and also about SELF-DISCOVERY. This is a woman's book, a mommy book and I loved it. However, it was hard for me to accept that the woman is having an affair with a Benedictine MONK. I'm a Catholic and was educated in a Benedictine school. I'm not usually conservative when it comes to stories and plots but it was really hard to swallow. What I do is pretend that Whit was a fisherman and not a monk. It was just to weird for me, but its a good book nonetheless. If you have an open-mind, you might love it.

The author shared her 6+ year journey from southern baptist writer/mother/wife/daughter through the awakening of her soul as a woman. She witnesses grown men degrade and devalue her teenage daughter, and starts to see the impact the patriarchy of organized religion has had on the psyche of women, men, and society. Her exploration takes her on a journey to find, and get in touch with her innerself, and learn to live in tune with the sacred feminine.

Based on the author's background, she constantly seeks to find ways to merge the faith she loves with the Goddess, and is comforted to find evidence that Christianity did once embrace a God-ess with masculine and feminine qualities before "she" was stripped away and God was masculinized..... by men of the early church.

As the author points out, every human has their own path or journey to travel. My personal journey began in middle school. I had the same misgivings about the marginalization of women in the bible, as well as in my family. I was the oldest of 7 granddaughters, and the disappointment of "not being a boy, thus a consolation" seldom drifted far from my center of attention. Like the author points out, I became a perfectionist, but never felt like it was enough. My personal journey, although it has been rockier and missing all the world travel, has taken me on a similar path to the sacred feminine and to an ever-evolving relationship with spirit. I feel it. I commune with it. I listen to it. I call upon it for strength, however, I stopped playing the role of victim in "HIS plan for my life". I took back my power.

Whether you need the faith of organized religion in your life, or have more pagan (or other) leanings, this book will have something for you, without alienating anyone(in my opinion). The author finds peace in the oneness of all life, living in the present moment, and her place in the circle of life as a granddaughter, daughter, mother, and female in nature.

Highly recommended for women, and men.

I read this for the first time in October of 2006, actually -- it was loaned to me by my friend Lucy. Around the holidays I went out and bought myself my own copy (and one for my mother) and proceeded to start re-reading it, bit by bit. At the time, I was expecting a child through adoption and was trying to actively wait with patience and grace, which was really a challenge. This isn't why Sue Monk Kidd wrote her book, but that's the beauty of books -- we bring ourselves to them and sometimes find what we need. Her spirituality regarding waiting in our hurried-up world was a much-needed lens for me. Her writing is also quite lovely and she made me want to open up and write about my own experience.

I think that everyone had super high expectations of this book after the amazing success of The Secret Life of Bees (which I loved). This was a good book. I enjoyed it. But it wasn't in the same league with SLB. The characters, as always, are quirky and likable. The imagery is rich. The setting is magical, a place I'd really like to go. And the story is engaging. But something about it seemed more Nicholas Sparks-y than I expected. It's half good literature and half trashy romance novel with a predictable ending. But then, sometimes that's kind of fun too. And of course, it made me cry. Props to any book that can carry that off. I'd recommend it as a stand-alone, but don't expect it to be anything like SLB except for the strong women, the Catholic themes, the theme of the child who thinks she has killed a parent and the evocative poetic language.

Sue Monk Kidd articulates her spiritual and psychological struggle through her midlife journey. Her quests are grounded in the Bible, Christian spiritual writing, contemporary spitituality and psychology. She shares some profound experiences of personal spiritual breakthroughs.
She compares the "waiting process" of becoming your "true Self' and giving birth to the Christ within as the catapillar developing in chrysallis of the cocoon. During this waiting time being nutured by Mother nature until ready to be transformed or (re)birthed into a butterfly.( by a "mothering" God to teach us birth and rebirth).
Any one looking for spiritual insight can benefit from "When The Heart Waits".

My Grandmere gave me this and eventhough it's real cheesy I'm going to read it. Maybe not hte whole thing but at least some. That way when I go home I can tell her I read some.

Loved it!

This is the best thing I've read/listened to in a while. Kidd has transformed my commute into holy ground with her early writings of everyday spirituality. Citing favored theologians such as Anthony de Mello and Helen Prejean, she weaves her common events into contemplative moments.
This book is incredibly relate-able and calls for reflection. Thank you, Sue Monk Kidd for so honestly giving us a window into your young soul!
One of my most favorite spiritual works!

This was my first M-M-F book. I prefer M-F-M, but this was really sweet. I loved the chemistry they had, and I don't know it was just really sweet.

This book is part memoir, part inspirational writing about her journey to feminine spiritual consciousness and the empowerment it brought. I learned that (Christian)spiritual writing was her career before this "journey." She is now known for her novels, of course.

I was led on a similar journey a few of decades ago, partly through experiences at my church, and partly through reading some of the same books she did. I did not do it as fully and dramatically as she did, however. This seemed like old territory to me, but I felt it was a good review of why, in my religion particularly, I'm a feminist.

I read this book as part of the women's book group at my church. It was okay but I felt that I was at a different point in my spiritual journey than the author was and much of what she had to say did not speak to me. I did find myself taking some notes for later discussion but realized that most of the quotes I was drawn to were by people that she was quoting...not her own words. We discussed the book at book group one night after reading a third of it and as a group decided not to finish the book. Her spiritual journey was really her own unique one, and after three chapters no longer held my interest. It was redundant, echoing many thoughts I have already pondered at a different point in my life, and did not bring me any new insight.