The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd

The Mermaid Chair
by Sue Monk Kidd
Pub. Date: 2005
Genre: Fiction
335pp

Synopsis from BN.com:
Inside the abbey of a Benedictine monastery on tiny Egret Island, just off the coast of South Carolina, resides a beautiful and mysterious chair ornately carved with mermaids and dedicated to a saint who, legend claims, was a mermaid before her conversion.

Jessie Sullivan's conventional life has been "molded to the smallest space possible." So when she is called home to cope with her mother's startling and enigmatic act of violence, Jessie finds herself relieved to be apart from her husband, Hugh. Jessie loves Hugh, but on Egret Island— amid the gorgeous marshlands and tidal creeks—she becomes drawn to Brother Thomas, a monk who is mere months from taking his final vows. What transpires will unlock the roots of her mother's tormented past, but most of all, as Jessie grapples with the tension of desire and the struggle to deny it, she will find a freedom that feels overwhelmingly right.

Why I Picked It:
I read and loved The Secret Life of Bees a couple years ago with my book club, and so I'm assuming that's what compelled my purchase of this book. It has been in my TBR pile for many many moons, and you'll have to see my previous entry to learn why I picked it.

My Review:
How do I begin to express my love for this book? It's poetic and insightful. It's a very wise, comforting and just real exploration of all the basic elements of being human. Love, loss, grief, regret, secrets, and most importantly, how faith ties it all together. Be it a faith in God or a faith in legend, or merely, faith in our own decisions. How we fill the voids of love created by our losses, and what we would do if we lost it all again....

Jessie is essentially at a crossroads in her marriage. Her child has grown, ending her stay-at-home mom career, and her marriage has settled into its rhythms. Following an early morning phone call from one of her mother's closest friends, Jessie races back to her childhood home of Egret Island, a place she vowed never to return. Egret Island is a place filled with legend and faith. Every child at an early age was told the stories about the mermaid chair. "Sit in the chair, say a prayer. An answer tomorrow from St. Senara." But for Jessie, the island is filled only with sad desperate memories after the tragic boating death of her dad, and her mother, once full of life and laughter, is now full of grief and religion. Jessie arrives back at the island after learning that her mother has chopped her own finger off, saying later only, "I was holding the cleaver, and ... it just seemed like it would be such a relief to bring it down on my finger." Has her mother gone mad?

Jessie finds the island to be a place to evaluate her own choices, unravel the mysteries of her own life such as the truth behind her father's death. Was it really her fault? Was one of the island's oldest monks involved in that and/or her mother's rash act? Then she meets Brother Thomas (real name Whit O'Connor). Brother Thomas has come to the island for his own reasons, the death of his wife and unborn daughter. Jessie and Brother Thomas are two people thrust upon the island essentially in misery. He is also seeking answers as to whether God even exists, and merely months away from taking his final vows in the monastery. Two suffering souls drawn to each other.

Their first conversations are so intimate. Sharing their long, sad stories, Jessie thinks, "I glimpsed what struck me as sadness fill his eyes. As if a sorrowing place in him had recognized this same sorrowing place in me." And yes, they fall in love. A mutual, desperate, soul and faith shattering love that is going to have its ripple effect.

I felt so comfortable in the pages of this book, thoroughly enjoying the truths, the insights, and feeling intimately immersed in the personal struggles of the characters. The book is narrated primarily by Jessie, but I was always happy to find it was Brother Thomas' turn to speak. Beautifully and genuinely constructed. I need to pass it along to someone I know very quickly so I can pick it apart and talk about it. Hey you. Yes, You! Quick - stop reading my blog and go read the book NOW!!