The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd

The Mermaid Chair is a beautifully written novel about the pain that can grow around family secrets, the value of friendships between women, and the need to know and love oneself before one can fully connect with others. I loved the gorgeously lush water imagery and the painful, visceral way Kidd demonstrates that some parables shouldn't be copied literally. I have not read The Secret Life of Bees, so I cannot make comparisons to Kidd's other work. But The Mermaid Chair was so good that now I plan to read her other stories.

The Mermaid Chair is available at the Brentwood Library in book format and in audio book format on compact disc.