Book Review: The Mermaid Chair - Sue Monk Kidd

The Mermaid Chair - Sue Monk Kidd

Inside the abbey of a Benedictine monastery on tiny Egret Island, just off the coast of South Carolina, resides a beautiful and mysterious chair ornately carved with mermaids and dedicated to a saint who, legend claims, was a mermaid before her conversion.  Jessie Sullivan's conventional life has been "molded to the smallest space possible."  So when she is called home to cope with her mother's startling and enigmatic act of violence, Jessie finds herself relieved to be apart from her husband, Hugh.  Jessie loves Hugh, but on Egret Island--amid the gorgeous marshlands and tidal creeks--she becomes drawn to Brother Thomas, a monk who is mere months from taking his final vows.  What transpires will unlock the roots of her mother's tormented past, but most of all, as Jessie grapples with the tension of desire and the struggle to deny it, she will find a freedom that feels overwhelmingly right.

3/5 stars (liked it)
This book takes place in 1988 between February and May.  This story is about Jessie and how she learns more about herself by being away from her husband and falling in love.  Her relationship with her mother and a past that she thought she knew but learns the truth in the end.  Her relationship with her college aged daughter Dee and how her marital problems affects her daughter.  Also her relationship with her husband Hugh and the "other man" Brother Thomas.  Brother Thomas deciding his future, is it with God or with this woman he is drawn to.  In the end it seems like everyone in this books learns a little bit about themselves and that things don't always go as plan or are what they seem.

Book Review: The Secret Life of Bees – Sue Monk Kidd

The Secret Life ofBees – Sue Monk Kidd

Set in South Carolina in 1964.  The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed.  When Lily’s fierce-hearted black “stand-in mother” Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free.  They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina—a town that holds the secret to her mother’s past.  Taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna.  This is a remarkable novel about divine female power, a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.

4/5 stars (really liked it)

I felt really sorry for Lily, all her life she has felt responsible for her mother’s death, her father T. Ray is not a very good father and he treats her very badly.  I can very much see how she would take Rosaleen away with her and leave T. Ray behind.  In Tiburon she says with three Beekeeping Sisters, August is the oldest and very motherly and takes Lily and Rosaleen in right away.  June is very stubborn and dislikes Lily from the beginning.  May is very troubled and sensitive to other people’s feelings and she becomes friends with Rosaleen.  I really enjoyed this book and all the characters in them.  Throughout this book I saw how Lily grew from a scared girl to a strong woman and how she learned about her mother’s past.  Also how she learned that people are the same no matter what color their skin is.