The Mermaid Chair

I listened to the audio book, The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd. I have heard such great things about this author, that I imagined I would love The Mermaid Chair. However, I was dissapointed. I quite honestly only finished it because I had no other audio books left.

The book began promising. Jessie returned to her childhood home of Egret Island. Her mother had chopped off her finger. The island's two primary methods of livelyhood are the tourists and the fishermen. The tourists come for the Gullah graveyard, the aviary sanctuaries, and the Monestary of St. Sonora. Then the book seemed to drag itself along. Between beautiful descriptions of scenery, the plot lacked a beauty to echo the serenity of the island. In the early stages, I had hope of improvement, but by the halfway point, I was tired of listening to Jessie and her problems. The book's climax was also dissapointing.

What I did like was how Sue Monk Kidd crafted the scene with her pin. I could see the mermaid chair, hear the bird's calls, and smell the ocean's fragrence. I think at one point, that is what kept me listening.

2 out 5 stars.