The Mermaid Chair
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Review
"'Monk Kidd spins a highly charged tale full of sexual and spiritual desire. Every bit as convincing and moving as her previous, bestselling novel, THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES' Mirror; 'The powerful follow-up to the international bestseller, THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES' Grazia; 'Impulse, excitement and the anticipation swell within Kidd's prose which is magical, imaginative and effortless' The Big Issue (North); 'A fascinating look at how the deepest ties can be tested when you meet the right person at the wrong time' Glamour"
The Big Issue (North)
'Impulse, excitement and the anticipation swell within Kidd's prose which is magical, imaginative and effortless'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THIS BOOK SPOKE TO ME...,
By
This review is from: The Mermaid Chair (Paperback)
This is the story of a woman's re-awakening of self. It is the story of forty-two year old Jessie Sullivan, a woman who has sublimated herself throughout her married life to her husband and her daughter. Now that her daughter is going away to college, empty nest syndrome looms on the horizon, along with a somewhat stagnant marriage. When she returns to her childhood home to attend to her aging mother who has done something unthinkable, it is Jessie who then does the unthinkable.
On the island where she grew up, Egret Island, her deeply religious mother remains uncommunicative about having intentionally severed one of her fingers. Her mother, a cook for the Benedictine monastery on the Island, will simply not discuss the reasons why she engaged in such a violent act of self-mutilation, and Jessie suspects that it has something to do with the death of Jessie's beloved father who died when she was nine. Jessie had always felt tremendous guilt and sadness regarding her father's death, as he purportedly died while on his fishing boat, which exploded when a spark from a pipe Jessie had given him as a gift had ignited a faulty gas line. While back on Egret Island, Jessie, pondering her mother's situation as well as her own growing discontent and dissatisfaction with her life, runs into Brother Thomas, a Benedictine monk battling his own internal demons and personal crisis. When these two lost souls come together, an illicit affair is begun, and Jessie embarks on such a surprising voyage of personal self-discovery that even she does not know how it will all end. When her husband, Hugh, a psychiatrist and no dummy, comes to the island, he pretty much figures out what is going on. He returns home, only to realize the reality of what actually has happened. He knows that he needs to look beyond himself and try to find a way to overcome his own feelings of personal devastation and betrayal in order to help right what went wrong. While Jessie's way of reaching into the core of her being was not necessarily right, it is the way that presented itself to her. Had it not, I doubt that she would have been able to put her life in order and appreciate what she had with her husband and to build on that. Jessie ultimately realizes that her love affair is the response to a crisis in her life but is not necessarily the solution. This book spoke to me. Its theme resonated on a very personal level. So many women do sublimate themselves to their families that when their children grow up and leave home, they are an empty shell of their former self, their raison d'etre no longer there. They are left to rediscover themselves. Some do, while others, unfortunately do not, sleepwalking through their lives, shadowy remnants of their younger selves, never venturing out beyond their own self-imposed restraints, out of touch with themselves as people in their own right. The author addresses these issues through this lyrically told story. The essence of her haunting prose will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned.
41 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Facing the Unknown,
This review is from: The Mermaid Chair (Hardcover)
In my opinion "The Mermaid Chair" is about the unknown. The title comes from (in the story) an ornately carved chair (carved with mermaid designs) that is dedicated to a church saint was actually a mermaid before a conversion (at least according to legend). The crux of the story is about the search for the unknown that drives us in life. There is an unknown that has tormented Jessie Sullivan's mother to act out in violence and bring Jessie back to her childhood home to care for her. There is the unknown of why happily married Jessie is mysteriously drawn to a monk on the verge of taking his vows. There is the unknown of what makes one yearn for a soul mate. The second novel from Sue Monk Kidd following her stunning debut "The Secret Life of Bees", "The Mermaid Chair" is an exquisite example of storytelling in its finest form along the lines of "Life of Pi", "Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time", "My Fractured Life", and "Kite Runner."
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Very disappointing,
By Ainm eile (Dublin Ireland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Mermaid Chair (Hardcover)
Having read and loved " The Secret Life of Bees" I was looking forward to reading this book and chose it as my bookclub selection. I found it tedious and the characters unsympathetic and ultimately found it hard to finish.
I would not recommend it to anyone who loved the Secret Life as it will disappoint.
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