The Mermaid Chair: A Novel Paperback – March 7, 2006

The characters in this book are archetypes in which we can see ourselves. Kidd weaves the unreal with the real. Very skillfully written.

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.

In The Mermaid Chair, Sue Monk Kidd does for fiction what the Flemish masters did for painting. She imbues each scene with so much reality it unfolds in your mind like a memory.You can taste the salty sea air and smell the murky island scents of Egret Island. You feel every horrific and blessed thing that Jessie experiences.I have never fallen so completely in love with a book before. Her writing is beyond beautiful. It's startling and humbling. I found myself nodding and rereading lines, thinking YES that is exactly how it feels but how did she capture it so perfectly?The book is brimming with brilliance. Some of my favorite lines are:"The mind is so good at revising reality to suit its needs.""There's release in knowing the truth no matter how anguishing it is.""Sometimes the heart wanted what the soul demanded."The story felt like a mid-life crisis crossed with a finding oneself journey.Sue Monk Kidd's website describes the story as "the transendent tale explores the lush, unknown region of the feminine soul where the thin line between the spiritual and the erotic exists. Here is an unforgettable love story, between a woman and a monk, a woman and her family, and ultimately a woman and her own soul."I think of it as a spiritual journey that leaves Jessie and the reader forever changed by calling into question the bonds of love and commitment. By reminding us that everything is a choice. Whether to leave a husband, to reunite with a parent, to be fully alive.Sue Monk Kidd is a master of the writing craft. Her ability to set the scene is breathtaking and realistic. Her dialogue is poignant. Her character's internal thoughts vivid and engaging. There was not one point in the book where I wanted to put it down. Every aspect of the writing was engaging. I will be rereading this book for years to come, hoping to gain insight into how she does it.

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.

This was the third book by Sue Monk Kidd that I read. She is the most imaginative writer!!

This was more of a modern romance novel. Not as captivating as her other stories and the tone and pose is not as well crafted. I love her other books.

Beautiful story of a woman finding herself after losing herself in marriage and motherhood.A painful and sensual journey full of imagery, interesting characters and human emotion.Many women will relate. Very easy to lose yourself in this story.

Every book I've read so far from Sue Monk Kidd I've loved. It carries me away, makes me think and makes me feel richer

Another beautiful, wise and warm-hearted book by Sue Monk Kidd. If you're an intelligent, grown woman with an interest in psychology, especially the Jungian notion of individuation - the process of becoming one's true self - you'll love it.Jessie goes home to an island off the Carolina coast after her mother, who cooks for the monks in the monastery next door, chops off her right forefinger. What compelled Nelle to do it? Nelle had been a normal, fun-loving woman till her husband Joe died in a boating accident, whereupon she became extremely, overbearingly religious. Jessie was nine at the time and has always felt the loss of her father keenly. As she was the one who gave her dad the pipe that supposedly ignited the leaking fuel, she has also carried a burden of guilt.Jessie, now 42, and long-married to psychiatrist Hugh, is met by the eccentric Kat, Kat's simple daughter Benne, and Hepzibah, who has researched the Gullah culture (the descendants of African slaves). Kat, Hepzibah and Nelle have long been a trio. You could almost say: the three wise crones of myth and legend. Jessie finds her mother burying the severed finger by the statue of St Senara in the monastery grounds but is unforthcoming about the "why". They meet Brother Thomas, who is soon to take his final vows.Suffice to say that things unspool from there. Jessie and Thomas experience an out-of-this-world love which is healing but destructive. The truth of Joe's death finally emerges. The symbology of mermaids plays a powerful role, and Jessie begins to paint them. The analytical Hugh is shocked into a new plane of understanding, as are Jessie and Thomas, and indeed, all concerned. The path to individuation never does run smooth.This is a beautiful and wise book, with much to teach us. The salt marsh landscapes of the island are beautifully evoked, as is island life in general, including the indefatigable dog Max, who is owned by no one and everyone. A joy.

It really pulled me in, I was gutted when I finished reading it as I had been enjoying it so much. Thought provoking, mysterious and entertaining