I bought this book for two reasons: 1) I loved Sue Monk Kidd's novel "The Secret Life of Bees" and couldn't wait to read what else she had written and 2) because ever since I was a little girl I've had a love affair with anything mermaid related.

I have to say, I was sorely disappointed, not only did I feel that the book did not match up to the great writing from her previous work, I felt the story itself was awful. I had no patience or interest with the main character and found her to be annoying and irritating. Instead of finding a great story about a woman finding herself I felt it was about a weak woman making all the wrong choices and not caring about anyone or anything in her path. Definitely not the kind of woman I would want to be friends with.

I also expected more history in relation to the Mermaid Chair that gives the novel it's name. All in all, I thought it was a weak attempt at matching "The Secret Life of Bees". If you want to read a good book, save your time, and pick up "The Secret Life of Bees" instead.

I had difficulty getting drawn into this story because the author does little to explain the characters' motivations for their actions, which are seemingly inexplicable until the end of the book. The main character, who is married to a good man and has a daughter, falls for another man who is a monk at the church where her mother works. By the time the author gives insight into the cause of her adulterous feelings, one has already begun to dislike the main character. The mother's violent acts of self-mutilation are incomprehensible since the author keeps the cause of her pain a secret until the end of the book. Even the father's mysterious death is not explained until the last few chapters. This book was frustrating because the author does not disclose anything to make you care about these characters until the final moments of the story.

This book was "OK" and admittedly had a lot to live up to after "The Secret Life of Bees". It took me a long time to read through this book because I just wasn't that interested in it. Around the middle, I speed up and finished it and it was allright. Certainly not the best book I've read, but adequate I guess.

So predictable and boring. I somehow managed to finish this book.

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.

This was a disappointment after her first book, The Secret Life of Bees, which I loved.

I read this book in about 3 days. Needless to say, it was an easy read! I'm not sure what to say about it exactly ... it was pleasant to read, quick to get into, easy to identify with the characters ... but I'm just not sure about this book.

It's not the type of book I USUALLY read, so maybe that's what's bugging me about it. Or MAYBE I identified with the main character more than I really wanted to or will admit to?! That thought just occurred to me as I sat here writing this. When people (in books and in real life) act irresponsibly in some way - even if it is for good reason - it really irks my nerves. So as I read this book and saw how Jessie basically walked out on her marriage it really bothered me. I won't give away the ending, but I will say that in the end, I was happy with the way things turned out. I might even say it was worth all the drama in the middle but I'm not really sure about that.

Ok, this is probably the most scatterbrained review you've ever seen. Sorry about that ... this book is hard for me to review for some reason. In all honesty, I think I see myself in Jessie in many ways ... and that is really quite scary for me.

(you can read more of my reviews at www.age30books.blogspot.com)

UPDATE: Laying in bed last night, I kept thinking about this book and I just had to post a few more thoughts. I think what got to me is that I've been married for 10 years and I can see how Jessie might feel after 20 years of marriage. Couples can get complacent, their relationship doesn't grow, and each partner can cease to have an individual identity. That being said, that is NOT how I feel about my marriage. No, it's not perfect, but I'm deeply committed to making it work every day. But I do understand how Jessie got to where she was, and I think that's what really hit home about this book for me.

I loved this book, it really gives you an upclose veiw of life. We have all had moments like these, it was so good!

I passed this book up several times while browsing the PBS listings, then I came across it while in my local Salvation Army. I'm so glad that I brought it home because I loved it! It wasn't what I expected, and I really enjoyed the style of Sue Monk Kidd's writing.
If I knew this book was so good I never would have passed it up to begin with! Definitely a good read!

This was my first Sue Monk Kidd book (I know, Secret Life of Bees is still on my TBR list!). I thoroghly enjoyed the characters, the story and the pace of the book. It really showed a woman's mid-life struggle to find herself by discovering that some of the "truths" she had been told as a child to protect her, actually were worse than if she had been told the real truth in the first place. The lies festered not only in her, but in her Mother and others, and were brought to the surface painfully. I gave it 4 stars.

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At first, I didn't really care for this book at all. It started out SO similarly to _The Secret Life of Bees_ with a daughter feeling responsible for a parent's death. And though the narrator was older, there was a lot of similarity between the two. But, as the novel progressed, it grew to be separate from the first. It became a novel more like Jodi Picoult's - some chapters told by different characters and a revelation at the end. I will continue to watch for this author, because as a whole this novel was good. Maybe I would have enjoyed this more had I not just finished _The Secret Life of Bees_....

I've read a couple other books by this author, but this one is the one I liked the best.

I loved this story! I still think of it often, even though I read it like 2 years ago...Recommended.

Wonderful book really enjoyed it.

This is a very good book.A bit of a slow start,but then it picks up.Loved it.

Sue Monk Kidd, the author of 'The Secret Life of Bees', writes 'The Mermaid Chair' within the regional setting of her own roots, the South Carolina Lowcountry. The story centers around a woman re-exploring her identity and sordid familial past on an island which holds a unique monastery with a miraculous mermaid chair. While recounting a love affair, the story also raises basic philosophical questions about what life means on an individual basis, the consequences of ancestral mistakes, and the struggle and intersection between love, religion, mythology, and miracle. For those who know the story from 'The Secret Life of Bees,' the mermaid chair plays a similar esoteric role as the black Madonna did at the honey farm. Kidd, though centering around the female struggle of finding identity, always adds in a religious, almost magical element to her work, fusing the sacred with the mundane.

I really liked this novel; enough that I am interested in her other writings.

This was a story about a woman going back home as an adult and facing not only her past but finding herself contemplating her future. I really liked how it ended, but I won't spoil it for anyone. Sue Monk Kidd has a pleasant style that is easy to read and brings you into the story.

This was a wonderful novel. One of the most resonating I've read in a while. The story is about a woman questioning her life, marriage, history, faith, all the usual. While searching for answers she finds pain, guilt, truth, love, etc.. There are some quirky and fun characters, beautiful settings, love affairs, mysteries and mysticism. All of these important and interesting, but the real story is the main character and the heart opening process she goes through. Considering all of this, it is still a pretty light and fast read. Thoroughly enjoyable!

This was a wonderfully imaginative story. I enjoyed SMK's first book, the secret life of bees, but I think I enjoyed this one even more. Kept you wondering what the big secret was.

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