The Mermaid Chair: Summary and book reviews of The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd, plus links to an excerpt from The Mermaid Chair and a biography of Sue Monk Kidd.
The Mermaid Chair A Novel
by Sue Monk Kidd
Hardcover: Apr 2005,
320 pages.
Paperback: Mar 2006,
368 pages.
The luminous new novel from the author of the phenomenal bestseller The Secret Life of Bees.
Sue Monk Kidd’s stunning debut, The Secret Life of Bees, has
transformed her into a genuine literary star. Now, in her much-anticipated new
novel, Kidd has woven a transcendent tale that will thrill her legion of fans
and cement her reputation as one of the most remarkable writers at work today.
Inside the abbey of a Benedictine monastery on tiny Egret Island, just off
the coast of South Carolina, resides a beautiful and mysterious chair ornately
carved with mermaids and dedicated to a saint who, legend claims, was a mermaid
before her conversion. Jessie Sullivan’s conventional life has been "molded to
the smallest space possible." So when she is called home to cope with her
mother’s startling and enigmatic act of violence, Jessie finds herself relieved
to be apart from her husband, Hugh. Jessie loves Hugh, but on Egret Island—amid
the gorgeous marshlands and tidal creeks—she becomes drawn to Brother Thomas, a
monk who is mere months from taking his final vows. What transpires will unlock
the roots of her mother’s tormented past, but most of all, as Jessie grapples
with the tension of desire and the struggle to deny it, she will find a freedom
that feels overwhelmingly right.
What inspires the yearning for a soul mate? Few writers have explored, as
Kidd does, the lush, unknown region of the feminine soul where the thin line
between the spiritual and the erotic exists. The Mermaid Chair is a vividly
imagined novel about the passions of the spirit and the ecstasies of the body;
one that illuminates a woman’s self-awakening with the brilliance and power that
only a writer of Kidd’s ability could conjure.
BOOK REVIEWS
Media Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
Bestselling Kidd (The Secret Life of Bees (2002) has a gift for language, but the saccharine aftertaste won't go away.
Booklist - Kristine Huntley
Kidd's second offering is just as gracefully written as her first and possesses an equally compelling story. It should appeal to the many readers who made her first novel a hit with book clubs.
Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. This emotionally rich novel, full of sultry, magical descriptions of life in the South, is sure to be another hit for Kidd.
Book Page Magazine
Fans of Sue Monk Kidd's best-selling debut novel, The Secret Life of Bees, will be equally enamored with her beguiling sophomore effort....Reconciling the spiritual with the human, The Mermaid Chair is a captivating metaphorical and sensual journey into one woman's soul. Weaving enduring folklore about the seductive and transformative power of mermaids into a modern-day tale of rebirth, the novel shows us that sometimes we need to swim out to sea for the currents to carry us back home."
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by Bonnie The Uncomfortable Mermaid Chair This book came highly recommended by two women working in the book store where I bought it and, as I'm always looking for new authors to read, I took a chance. My money was not well spent.
Usually Penguin is a reliable label, but I'm... Read More
Rated of 5
by Ali Memory Keeper's Daughter I loved reading this book. I though it rich in symbolism (the way photography was used to capture the past - his being so complex, yet Carolines's being so simple and authentic). Life can be complicated and I feel that the author did a great job... Read More
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Kirkus Reviews
Publishers Weekly
of 5
by Bonnie
of 5
by Ali
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