The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd opens with Jessie Sullivan waking up on Ash Wednesday to find that her overly religious mother has just cut off her finger. Jessie heads back to her childhood home on Egret Island in South Carolina to care for her ailing mother.
While she’s on the Island, Jessie befriends a Monk from the local monestery and they engage in an illicit affair with him, she also learns some secrets about her childhood and the death of her beloved father, whom she believed died in a tragic boating accident.
I found this book to be somewhat of a let down. I had heard so many good things about Kidd, so I was looking forward to reading the book but many times I found myself bored. It was slow paced at times and I felt at odds with the main character Jessie. I felt really disjointed from her, and I found her to be extremely selfish. I feel that it’s important to sympathize with the main charater, but in this case, I just did not like her.
I wish the lesser characters had been introduced better but they were not…which was a shame as they all seemed to be more interesting characters. But unfortanately it felt that they were glossed over.
I did however like the “real” story about Jessie’s father’s death and how the story came to be told. Throughout the book there was a pretty good buildup to find the truth about why Jessie’s mother was mentally unstable and why her father’s death had been so hush hush. It was a surprise.
I don’t think I’d recommend buying this book, at least not at full retail.
