Carol's review
The Mermaid Chair: A Novel
by Sue Monk Kidd
Totally agree with you on this one. It was a very easy read but it was certainly not on the same page as "The Secret Life of Bees" (which I loved). I was very disappointed in this book. It was just weird to me. I hope that whatever she comes out with next is more like "TSLoB".
Thanks, Bambi. I'm happy to know your response. I guess there's lots of pressure on authors to follow up bestselling books quickly with another; that's the only thing I can think of that explains this book. It seems slapdash and you can almost feel a publisher breathing down her neck while she's writing!
Well, I hope the publishers got what they wanted. I'm not sure I'll bother to read her next book.
Carol's review
The Mermaid Chair: A Novel by Sue Monk Kidd
Carol's review
rating:
recommended for: people who believe in love at first sight
Very disappointed in this book since I loved "The Secret Life of Bees". The best thing I can say about it is that it is highly readable...an easy summer read. I believe in lust at first site, a spark that makes you want to get to know someone, etc. No matter how hard I tried, I could not wrap myself around the decision of a woman to leave a husband of 20 years and a monk to turn his back on the monastery on the basis of a first glance after which both proclaimed being in love. And if you can't buy into this, then you can't buy into the book. Also, the women characters engage in silly symbolic gestures, the kind that you enjoy at age 10. The author does not let you glean any meaning for yourself. She describes her paintings and then points out their (very) obvious psychological interpretations. I don't think she gives her readers much credit. If a reader wants a simple summer read and finds a forbidden romance titillating, this is the book for you. I would pass, howe...more
Totally agree with you on this one. It was a very easy read but it was certainly not on the same page as "The Secret Life of Bees" (which I loved). I was very disappointed in this book. It was just weird to me. I hope that whatever she comes out with next is more like "TSLoB".
Thanks, Bambi. I'm happy to know your response. I guess there's lots of pressure on authors to follow up bestselling books quickly with another; that's the only thing I can think of that explains this book. It seems slapdash and you can almost feel a publisher breathing down her neck while she's writing!
Well, I hope the publishers got what they wanted. I'm not sure I'll bother to read her next book.
