The Mermaid Chair: A Novel Kindle Edition

I found it to be beautifully written, and evocative of Kidd's themes: the bonds of friendship among women of different races, ages and backgrounds, the mystical rituals that abound in small southern havens, and the feelings of loss and loneliness when one person is cut off from their roots and the family ties they have previously cherished.Kidd's heroine in this, her sophomore effort, is Jessie Sullivan, a middle aged artist who is restless and feels cut off from both her family (husband and college-age daughter) after the trio has been exceptionally close during Dee's life as a child, and her own family roots. Her mother still lives on the fictional barrier island, Egret, off the coast of South Carolina, amongst colorful friends and near a monastery steeped in tradition. Jessie, however, has not been to the island in many years.Called home by a tragic act of her mother (who has cut off her own finger, by design, and not by accident), Jessie uses the excuse of going to Egret to escape the doldrums of a marriage to Hugh, who has no idea that she is restless and unhappy.Kidd gives us the rural traditions of life on the island, steeped in the culture of a mysterious and gaudy mermaid chair, upon which the tourist trinkets are based. Her mother's oldest friends, Kat and Hepzibah, are still there on the island, and her mother, up until the accident, has continued to cook for the monks at the Benedictine monastery. Jessie's memories, however, skip lightly over her mother, and are full of her brother Mike and her father, who died in a boat tragedy when the two were still young. Jessie and Mike had watched their mother fall further and further into religious fervor after his death, and both had avoided the island as much as possible when becoming adults.Over the course of the next months, Jessie sort of absent-mindedly cares for her mother, whose emotional state is frailer than her physical problem. But her real goals seem to be getting to the bottom of the real reason her father died, along with pursuing a relationship with Brother Thomas (formerly an attorney named Whit, whose wife and unborn child also died in a tragic accident). Drawn together by physical chemistry and shared sorrow, Jessie and Thomas have an affair that resonates through Thomas' belief in God and the path he has chosen.Interrupted by another senseless act of her mother's, Jessie is led to the truth about her father's death, led to face up to the destruction she has wreaked on her marriage, and finally led to really paying attention to what type of guilt and legend is causing her mother to behave so erratically.Kidd's description of Egret Island, and her flashbacks to the tales of Jessie and Mike's childhood are written beautifully. The intimacy between Thomas and Jessie is tasteful and evocative. But Kidd cannot use the charm of Jessie's character to overcome the self-absorption she portrays, nor can she draw us into the Mermaid legend in the way that she used the spirit of beekeeping in the former novel. The ending to her tale is likewise, unsatisfying. And it is unforgiveable that the lovely people on this island, who all know the secret of Jessie's father's death, would keep enough of it from her to let her believe that the fire in which he died was caused by the pipe that she gave him. In this senseless act, they allow her to live with the guilt throughout most of her adolescent and adult life. One cannot believe that any of the islanders, who obviously care about Jessie, would do so, no matter that this is what her mother wants.And so, Kidd gives us a flawed tale -- one, it's true, in which her ability to weave words and describe settings of real southern beauty and charm is unmatched. But the characters in the book play false, and the love affair, and its ending, leave a sense of shabbiness. The central myths of the tale, of strong and Catholic faith surrounding the tale of the Mermaid, are not really believable as written.The Mermaid Chair draws you in and keeps your interest, but the vague sense of unease that the reader has throughout the tale of an unsettled, middle-aged woman, are not in keeping with the beauty of the writing.Somewhere between 3 and 4 stars (when not comparing it to the Secret Life of Bees!), this book was perhaps conceived too quickly for Monk Kidd to find human themes that fit her mystical premise.

I got into the book but in the middle I almost stopped reading it. I thought I knew how it would end in a very predictable fashion. I was totally wrong and glad I keep going.This book ended up touching me deeply

I loved this book. I enjoyed Secret Life of Bees as well. Mermaid Chair evokes a spiritual quest. If the readers can get beyond the obvious plot (finding self through an affair) and notice the metaphor implied there, it reads much more powerfully. Reading Dance of the Dissident Daughter (SMK memoir) is helpful in catching the nuances of the spiritual quest. There is a "crazy" period of inquiry that unsettles all established roles and norms, that is brash and dangerous to self and intimates, there is a waking from a deep sleep that requires one to face her shadow self and to learn how to integrate that new awareness of depravity and beauty that make up a soul. This book explores those depths. It helps if you have experienced a journey of that sort to appreciate the accuracy and honesty of SMK's story telling.I usually oppose all books that feature adultery as a gateway to self-awareness. In this novel, SMK reveals a different nuance. She shows that this character's awakening is costly, that she has interpreted the dictates of her erotic desires as being what they appear on the surface - a hunger for a different man. This hunger clouds both her judgment and undermines her faithfulness to her responsibilities (care for her mother, daughter and marriage). It also interferes/masks a true commitment to self that is required for connection with the eternal. This is a theme Monk Kidd returns to in all of her writing.The jump into adultery (that both damns and saves) reminds me of SMK's risky leave-taking of the Episcopaliam church to explore feminine spirituality. She is acknowledging both the attraction and cost of breaking with convention and expectations, and the level of self-deception and beauty that attends any spiritual quest.Her triumph, then, is also moving beyond sentimentalism (as in Ladder of Years, by Anne Tyler with a similar story and premise). SMK captures the gradual coming to life of someone who hadn't known she was dead (or asleep). She shows how remorse is easy compared with forgiveness which is meted out in teaspoons, painfully, over time. Jessie, then, is not so different from her own mother, in fact. Only the degree of "crazy" behavior separates them. Ultimately it is "re-membering" that sets them both free.My only reason for giving this book a four instead of five stars is that I felt SMK shrunk from exploring the depth of dissonance/trauma between Hugh and Jessie. She did not develop realistic dialog between Jessie and Hugh at two key points. It's almost as if she hasn't had this kind of experience before and doesn't know where to let them go with their rage, or defensiveness.I loved the creativity of the saints' stories, the mermaid myth and the well-evoked scene off the coast os SC. What an imagination! So many wonderful metaphors in the scenery and setting. A pleasure to read.For me, this book is worth a second read and I liked it better than Bees.

There were mixed reviews on line so I embarked on this book with some trepidation as I had really loved The Secret Life of Bees, The Invention of Wings and The Book of Longings. I have to say I was not disappointed with The Mermaid Chair. It was perhaps slower than the other books and yet I looked forward to picking it up and losing myself in the characters. I loved the relationships between the women (Sue Monk Kidd does this so well) and she wrote about love (in all its different forms) so well. The description of the island was so good I could almost hear the birds and smell the air. The story was strange and compelling and overall a very satisfying read.

For the setting Sue Monk Kidd explores numerous barrier islands in South Carolina and comes up with Bull Island which she calls Egret Island in her book. She writes about the Gullah culture which is the distinct heritage belonging to African American descendants of slaves who settle along the southeast coast of the the Carolina's. The Gullah language is still spoken in parts of South Carolina. ' The Mermaid Chair' does exist and sits inSt. Serena Church in the ancient village of Zennor in Cornwall. The chair is made from two fifteenth-century bench ends, one of which is carved with a mysterious mermaid. The carving is associated with the fabled Mermaid of Zenor, who fell in love with one of the church's choristers, then lured him into the sea. From this the author begins to weave her story.The novel is not as good as her previous one ' The Secret life of Bees' but the setting is interesting. The story is sadly predictable, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.Sue Monk Kidd was born and raised in Gorgia and now lives beside a salt marsh near Charleston where she can watch from her window the tidal creeks and marsh birds.

Having read the Secret Life of Bees and the Invention of Wings I was expecting to be just as delighted with this book by the same author. How wrong I was. I took a dislike to the main character because I felt she was an unsympathetic person who was irritated by her husband. She returned to her childhood home on an island after an horrific act was performed by her mother.She went to care for her mother on the island which was inhabited by Benedictine monks and befriended one in particular. ... Further disturbing incidents occured mostly relating to her mother which made it difficult reading for me who is quite squeamish. Very disappointing.

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.

Sue Monk Kidd gives us the picture of a dissatisfied wife embarking upon an adulterous affair with a monk who is questioning his faith. They both have griefs to overcome and she, at least, seeks someone to blame. It is written beautifully, lyrically and despite the desires indulged to the pain of both protagonists and all those around them, we feel sorry for them. There are secrets and pains that cannot be exorcised without more pain. It is a story that unfolds in a beautiful and unusual place and contains a few of Kidd's 'characters' who enrich the story and slightly distract us with their quirkiness. Sometimes it is just a bit too 'nice' but then Kidd makes the unpalatable nice and thus allows us to look at it, examine it for ourselves and come perhaps to some personal revelations.