Reviews
"Book clubs, start your engines. Sue Monk Kidd''''s first novel, The Secret Life of Bees , has sold 3 million copies since 2002.…Those are big shoes to fill, but Kidd acquits herself admirably with The Mermaid Chair ….Both novels drip with vivid images of hot Southern afternoons, droning insects, swooping birds and oases in which nature is the fabric of life. It is a tapestry strengthened by bonds between women that bridge pain and loss. Most important, both have passages of beautiful writing… Kidd wrote two well-received memoirs before turning to fiction. But perhaps the answer ultimately given by The Mermaid Chair is that a storyteller also can change course and come of age in the middle of her life."- USA Today "Her writing is so smart and sharp, she gives new life to old midlife crises, and she draws connections from the feminine to the divine to the erotic that a lesser writer wouldn''''t see, and might not have the guts to follow."- Time "(A) rewarding second novel by the author of the bestselling Secret Life of Bees . Writing from the perspective of conflicted, discontented Jessie, Kidd achieves a bold intensity and complexity that wasn''''t possible in The Secret Life of Bees , narrated by teenage Lily. Jessie''''s efforts to cope with marital stagnation; Whit''''s crisisof faith; and Nelle''''s tormented reckoning with the past will resonate with many readers. This emotionally rich novel, full of sultry, magical descriptions of life in the South, is sure to be another hit for Kidd." - Publisher''''s Weekly , starred review "Compelling reading.... The writing is soulful in its probing of the human heart and family secrets."- The San Francisco Chronicle "Secrets are told. Mysteries are revealed. In one rich and satisfying gush…, Jessie reevaluates just about every aspect of her life: her husband, her lover, her mother, her artwork, the death of her father decades ago, and most of all herself... Rewarding."- Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel "If [The Secret Life of] Bees was a girl's coming-of-age novel, [The Mermaid] Chair is a woman's coming-of-middle-age novel….The prose thrilled me. Kidd can really turn a phrase and her descriptions of nature's archetypal elements are magnificent."- The Philadelphia Inquirer "A woman at life''''s crossroads, a parent's tragic death and a strong, if eccentric circle of women. Stir in a forbidden love, and the pages all but turn themselves."- Parade "Kidd grabs you from the first sentence of The Mermaid's Chair . It is a satisfying tale that balances Southern gothic…[with] wish-fulfillment romance and a down-to-earth dissection of family problems. Sue Monk Kidd is a high-end practitioner of Ya-Ya-ism, with a lucid prose style and a fine sense of story. ... A good read."- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Richly rewarding."- Chicago Tribune "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."- Booklist "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."- Book Page "It's hard to put this book down for little things like sleeping and eating."- Elle "A well-told tale about marriage, mystery and mermaids....Kidd writes at a deeper emotional level than she did in the fabulously popular Bees. Her characters are more tormented, more complex, in their processes of coming unwound and then healing….Yet it is also a quite powerful feminist statement, and can be savored strictly on the basis of Kidd's beautiful use
