Rewarding.'- Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel 'If Bees was a girl's coming-of-age novel, Chair is a woman's coming-of-middle-age novel….The prose thrilled me. 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. The writing is soulful in its probing of the human heart and family secrets.'- The San Francisco Chronicle 'Secrets are told.

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. 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. 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. 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. Most important, both have passages of beautiful writing… Kidd wrote two well-received memoirs before turning to fiction. It is a tapestry strengthened by bonds between women that bridge pain and loss. 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.

The mermaid chair by sue monk kidd