Sue Monk Kidd's The Mermaid Chair is the soulful tale of Jessie Sullivan, a middle-aged woman whose stifled dreams and desires take shape during an extended stay on Egret Island, where she is caring for her troubled mother, Nelle. Like Kidd's stunning debut novel, The Secret Life of Bees, her highly anticipated follow up evokes the same magical sense of whimsy and poignancy.

While Kidd places an obvious importance on the role of mysticism and legend in this tale, including the mysterious mermaid's chair at the center of the island's history, the relationships between characters is what gives this novel its true weight. Once she returns to her childhood home, Jessie is forced to confront not only her relationship with her estranged mother, but her other emotional ties as well. After decades of marriage to Hugh, her practical yet conventional husband, Jessie starts to question whether she is craving an independence she never had the chance to experience. After she meets Brother Thomas, a handsome monk who has yet to take his final vows, Jessie is forced to decide whether passion can coexist with comfort, or if the two are mutually exclusive. As her soul begins to reawaken, Jessie must also confront the circumstances of her father's death, a tragedy that continues to haunt Jessie and Nelle over thirty years later.

Positive and Negative Feelings

I eagerly bought this book because I so loved "The Secret Life of Bees." After reading "Mermaid," I still love the writing style and imagery of Sue Monk Kidd. (Hugh as the "benevolent puppeteer" was precise and stunning; as was the image of the ship in the bottle, and the anecdote about savoring a Tootsie Pop as the epitome of delayed gratification.)I also loved the allusions to artists and their works, particularly her use of Magritte's painting of the locomotive bursting out of the fireplace. That was a brilliant touch. However, I have such strong negative feelings about Jessie, the main character. I grew angry at, and fatigued by, her ever-present self-indulged shallow angst, her flippant lack of responsibility for an illicit relationship, and her outrageously casual "care" and attention to her mother, who desperately needed watching. Instead, Jessie paddled her canoe off to the marsh to meet her lover, a man with absolutely no faults. (It would have been far more interesting if he had been crafted more realistically.) There were aspects of her husband Hugh that were definitely irritating, but certainly not serious enough to cause such discontent. As a writer myself, I feel that the book is often valuable from the standpoint of exquisite style and imagery. However, the plot and characters twist precariously into romance-novel land. Sue Monk Kidd is capable of far greater books than this.

With Growing Enthusiasm

"The Mermaid Chair" makes for a very pleasant reading experience. The story of a middle aged woman who must return to her childhood home and there meets a monk she fines herself oddly attracted to, "The Mermaid Chair" is vaguely reminiscent of "The Thorn Birds", it involves forbidden romantic desires along the path of life. However the story is entirely unique, as are all the characters. I grew more and more enthralled as the book went on. I definitely recommend "The Mermaid Chair". Other recommendations include: "The Time Traveler's Wife", "My Fractured Life", and "The Secret Life of Bees."

Worth the Trade

Sue Monk Kidd's brilliant book called `The Mermaid Chair' was one that my wife picked up. After trading cars with my wife for the day, I found myself in the eternal damnation of the doctor's office waiting room with nothing to read. A search of my wife's car came up with this book. It is quaint, sweet, and captivating. Oh yeah - my wife is going to have to wait until I'm done to get it back. Yes - it's that good! My favorites are books like "My Fractured Life", "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", and "Wicked" and I've told her she can borrow her pick until I'm done.