Here's what I wrote in 2008 about this read:"Woman caring for each other, as their lives turn their various ways and as some confront the mysteries of their past, and issues of the present. Set on a ficticious barrier island of the coast of S. Carolina. OK." ( )

The book started out in a manner I didn't care for in plots. It seemed predictable. I would not have continued to read the book except that her writing is so beautiful. The second half of the book was more like what I had expected of Sue Monk Kidd. ( )

I'm very torn over this book. Well, I went into reading it already torn...having adored The Secret Life of Bees but very apprehensive about this main character. As it turned out, try as I might, the main character (Jessie) just wasn't someone I could like. I understood her life challenges, really I did, but I thought she was too selfish, too self-centered, blind, fully lacking any wisdom a 42 year old woman should have gained and really freaking lucky in the end. She also reminded me *very* much of someone who was in our lives, married into our family, and all the hurt and confusion she left behind when she choose to find her own "solitude of being." In that way she became more real, and her choices more personal. Also personal was the fact that Jessie had lost her father at the same age I lost mine...so that thread I could identify with to an extent.
I loved the setting...the island life, the quirkiness of the other individual characters who shaped the story, the religious and mythological themes woven throughout. I could smell the marsh, hear the birds, the ancient roots reverberating through the fog, the monks silences. I wanted Nelle to be the main character mostly...she was intriguing, full of tragic grace and had the better story to tell.
So...if I were basing my rating on Jessie and her story, the book would get 2 stars but I took it as a whole and gave it 4. Sue Monk Kidd is wonderful at writing imagery and she tells a story well. ( )

“You can't stop your heart from loving, really -- it's like standing out there in the ocean yelling at the waves to stop.”
― Sue Monk Kidd, The Mermaid Chair

My review..9/6/2020

The Mermaid Chair was a must read for me. I fell in love..immediately..with the cover. I'd also read "The invention of wings" which I'd rated a five. I was prepared to love this. I did not.

I DID love certain aspects. By gosh, this woman can write. And she writes in a way I love. She writes about summer and islands and Mermaids. She writes of Star Fish and beautiful Sea Corral and she writes of water and tranquility. She writes of beautiful flowers and the sweetness of the Sea Spray and of tropical breezes and citrus and her writing is just..simply..heavenly.

But the subject matter..it did not do it for me. The infidelity was not the issue..not really. So what WAS the issue? Lots of things.

I did not really understand Jess. I did understand her motivation, her wanting to be free. And I understood her desire. To people who question why she needed sex to feel free..I get that. Is there anything more exciting then the first blush of pure passion? Of feeling a soul connection? I got all that and it did not offend me.

But her feelings of disdain for her husband bewildered me. Not that she was tired of him. But in certain ways, she seemed to find him repugnant and that I did not get. To question one's life..yes. But at times Jesse almost seemed to dislike him and she became so hostile toward High and so..almost contemptious..that I found it hard to understand.

Add to that:

SPOILERS:

When Jesse had the odd turnaround and wanted to go back to Hugh. It seemed to happen so suddenly. Can one really turn off one's sexuality that quickly? She LOVED this man..Brother Tom..and all of a sudden she was longing for Hugh. I GUESS this sort of thing happens. Not having ever been married maybe I just do not get it. But all of a sudden her feelings shifted toward Hugh and she loved him fiercely. Now if it had been casual between tom and her I'd have understood but she felt Tom was PART of her and her soul. It was hard to understand when all of a sudden she was literally saying the same thing about Hugh. I was a bit baffled.

Plus..the book was depressing. Really gloomy. And very New Agey. And just not in a way I liked.

I'd have adored this book if it had all been just about the island. The incredible writing, the raw and special BEAUTY of how this woman (Sue Monk Kidd) writes is vivid and beautiful. I just was not wild about the story line.

I also did not get what she said about how their love ( her and Brother Tom’s), wasn’t meant for such mundane things as washing socks or living together. Then is it really love at all? I had to wonder. Jesse's marrying herself to the sea was a little out there but I love the sea too so I could understand that. And the images of the island made me want to go there. Very mixed feelings.

And so much time was spent on the mom's story line as well as the story of her dad which broke my heart but was to painful for me to read without skimming..The book was a celebration in a way of life and living and I get that and I deeply respect some of the messages in this book. But the book as a whole was not for me. ( )

I liked the book. I had to get beyond the affair which was difficult for me, but I finished anyway and ended up enjoying the book. ( )