Monday, August 15, 2005
book thirty-seven
The Mermaid Chair
by Sue Monk Kidd
I had given up on reading this book this year, after I checked my holds at the library and found I was number 376 on the waiting list for it. But then, out of the blue, darling coworker L* asked me if I wanted to borrow it from her. And of course I did!
The story of this book is superficially quite different from "The Secret Life of Bees," Kidd's previous novel which I adored. But once I started reading, I realized that there were a lot of similarities... both the girl in "Secret Life" and the woman in "Mermaid Chair" are affected by the loss of a parent in childhood. And each finds an unconventional way to come to terms with that loss. And of course there is Kidd's writing, which is hypnotic and sensual. I don't mean sexy in any way - in fact, the love scenes in this book have very little detail. I mean that even though I've never been to the Barrier Islands, I felt that I could taste and smell and see and hear what life there is like while I was reading.
The protagonist of "The Mermaid Chair" is an artist whose daughter has recently left for college. She feels stifled in her marriage although she can't put her finger on why. She is suddenly called back to the island where she was raised when her mother, in a fit of either psychosis or religious devotion, chops off one of her fingers with a cleaver in the kitchen of the monastery where she is the cook. While dealing with her mother's injury and illness, she discovers the truth about her father's death and has an affair with a monk. Trust me, it's all more interesting than I'm making it sound!
by Sue Monk Kidd
I had given up on reading this book this year, after I checked my holds at the library and found I was number 376 on the waiting list for it. But then, out of the blue, darling coworker L* asked me if I wanted to borrow it from her. And of course I did!
The story of this book is superficially quite different from "The Secret Life of Bees," Kidd's previous novel which I adored. But once I started reading, I realized that there were a lot of similarities... both the girl in "Secret Life" and the woman in "Mermaid Chair" are affected by the loss of a parent in childhood. And each finds an unconventional way to come to terms with that loss. And of course there is Kidd's writing, which is hypnotic and sensual. I don't mean sexy in any way - in fact, the love scenes in this book have very little detail. I mean that even though I've never been to the Barrier Islands, I felt that I could taste and smell and see and hear what life there is like while I was reading.
The protagonist of "The Mermaid Chair" is an artist whose daughter has recently left for college. She feels stifled in her marriage although she can't put her finger on why. She is suddenly called back to the island where she was raised when her mother, in a fit of either psychosis or religious devotion, chops off one of her fingers with a cleaver in the kitchen of the monastery where she is the cook. While dealing with her mother's injury and illness, she discovers the truth about her father's death and has an affair with a monk. Trust me, it's all more interesting than I'm making it sound!
Labels: book reports
