The Mermaid Chair - Sue Monk Kidd, ebook, ebook.1400, Temp 3
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//-->Praise forThe Mermaid Chair“Book clubs, start your engines. Sue Monk Kidd’s first novel,The Secret Life ofBees,has sold three million copies since 2002. . . . Those are big shoes to fill, butKidd acquits herself admirably withThe Mermaid Chair.. . . Both novels drip withvivid images of hot Southern afternoons, droning insects, swooping birds andoases in which nature is the fabric of life. It is a tapestry strengthened by bonds be-tween women that bridge pain and loss. Most important, both have passages ofbeautiful writing. . . . Kidd wrote two well-received memoirs before turning to fic-tion. But perhaps the answer ultimately given byThe Mermaid Chairis that astoryteller also can change course and come of age in the middle of her life.”—USAToday“Her writing is so smart and sharp, she gives new life to old midlife crises, and shedraws connections from the feminine to the divine to the erotic that a lesser writerwouldn’t see, and might not have the guts to follow.”—Time“(A) rewarding second novel by the author of the bestsellingThe Secret Life of Bees.Writing from the perspective of conflicted, discontented Jessie, Kidd achieves abold intensity and complexity that wasn’t possible inThe Secret Life of Bees,nar-rated by teenage Lily. Jessie’s efforts to cope with marital stagnation; Whit’s crisis offaith; and Nelle’s tormented reckoning with the past will resonate with many read-ers. This emotionally rich novel, full of sultry, magical descriptions of life in theSouth, is . . . another hit for Kidd.”—PublishersWeekly(starred review)“Compelling reading . . . The writing is soulful in its probing of the human heartand family secrets.”—SanFrancisco Chronicle“Secrets are told. Mysteries are revealed. In one rich and satisfying gush . . . Jessiereevaluates 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.”—MilwaukeeJournal Sentinel“If [TheSecret Life of]Beeswas a girl’s coming-of-age novel, [TheMermaid]Chairis a woman’s coming-of-middle-age novel. . . . The prose thrilled me. Kidd canreally turn a phrase and her descriptions of nature’s archetypal elements are mag-nificent.”—ThePhiladelphia Inquirer“A woman at life’s crossroads, a parent’s tragic death and a strong, if eccentric circleof women. Stir in a forbidden love, and the pages all but turn themselves.”—Parade“Kidd grabs you from the first sentence ofThe Mermaid Chair.It is a satisfyingtale that balances Southern gothic . . . [with] wish-fulfillment romance and adown-to-earth dissection of family problems. Sue Monk Kidd is a high-end practi-tioner of Ya-Ya-ism, with a lucid prose style and a fine sense of story. . . . A goodread.”—TheAtlanta Journal-Constitution“Richly rewarding.”—ChicagoTribune“Kidd’s second offering is just as gracefully written as her first and possesses anequally compelling story. It should appeal to the many readers who made her firstnovel a hit with book clubs.”—Booklist“Fans of Sue Monk Kidd’s bestselling debut novel,The Secret Life of Bees,will beequally enamored with her beguiling . . .The Mermaid Chair.. . . Reconciling thespiritual with the human,The Mermaid Chairis a captivating metaphorical andsensual journey into one woman’s soul. Weaving enduring folklore about the se-ductive 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 tocarry us back home.”—BookPage“A well-told tale about marriage, mystery—and mermaids. . . . Kidd writes at adeeper emotional level than she did in the fabulously popularBees.Her charactersare more tormented, more complex, in their processes of coming unwound andthen healing. . . . Yet it is also a quite powerful feminist statement, and can be sa-vored strictly on the basis of Kidd’s beautiful use of language. . . .The MermaidChairis a multidimensional pleasure.”—FortWorth Star-Telegram“Kidd’s greatest strength as a writer is her sensuous, evocative prose. Egret Island isalive with its scent of salted air, old crab pots, bulling gumbo. The novel is alsofull, dense with symbolism, from the recurrent motif of the mermaid, diving deepand surfacing, to images of baptism, birds, rebirth. And Kidd continues to empha-size her central insights into the power of secrets to fester, the healing force of hon-esty and the significance of communities of independent but interwoven women,open to reconfigured rituals of grace. . . . Kidd suggests that to merge body andsoul just might enlarge a sense of what it is to be religious and to be married.”—PittsburghPost Gazette“[Kidd’s] imagination, originality and command of language never cease. She issimply a profound storyteller.”—TheDenver Post“Kidd draws on her extensive knowledge of theology and mythology in this in-sightful book about the passions and desires of body and soul. Kidd . . . slowly andcarefully unveils her story about the meaning of love, the necessity of risk, and thepower of forgiveness.”—OrlandoSentinel“The steady pulse of Kidd’s writing pushes this narrative from heart-throbber tosoul-searcher.”—BostonHerald“Kidd’s sparkling imagery inThe Mermaid Chairsurpasses her efforts in [TheSe-cret Life of]Beesand helps morph a simple story into something approachingmyth. . . . What keeps Kidd . . . flying high is her abiding sense of humor (hercharacters are really ‘characters’), an earthbound understanding of the ebb andflow of life, and her studious attention to the great metaphors of life.”—SantaCruz Sentinel“This lush follow-up finds Kidd asking even bigger questions with the story of awoman whose life and marriage have grown increasingly stale.”—Breathe“[An] illuminating investigation of midlife malaise . . .The Mermaid Chairhonorsthose who conjure up the courage to rediscover and recommit to their life passions.”—TheSeattle Times“No question: Kidd can write.”—TheSan Diego Union-Tribune“Those who fell in love with Kidd’s first novel will find pleasure here.”—TheOregonian“It takes a rare and mysterious novel to speak to our souls in so many ways that wereturn to the book again and again for refreshment and renewal. Sue Monk Kiddcreated that kind of magic inThe Secret Life of Bees,and her new novel promises tohave the same effect. . . .The Mermaid Chairwill lure you into its warm embrace ifyou have experienced a deep sense of loss in your life that will not let you go. It willappeal to your yearning for a close encounter with grace. It will enchant that secretpart of you that loves mermaids and saints. It will touch all those who strugglewith the Sacred Feminine in all her incarnations.”—Spiritualityand Health Review
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