Women are always celebrated and at the heart of a Sue Monk Kidd novel, in fact the men are quite peripheral. She has written several blockbuster novels like The Secret Life of Bees, The Invention of Wings, and The Book of Longings.
This book is not as epic as any of those, nor did I like it as much. The novel is about one woman’s quest to find identity and independence apart from others, but I found her personal crisis shallow and her actions immature. I could see what the author was doing, and felt some empathy for the protagonist, but she mostly seemed self-absorbed. What I did enjoy was Kidd’s usual gift for writing lively quirky characters, and there were plenty of those!
Growing up on a small island on the East Coast of South Carolina, steeped in history, culture and Catholicism, Jessie Sullivan returns to care for her ailing mother and finds herself in a midlife crisis. Feeling stuck in a marriage gone stale, she is drawn both physically and spiritually to a monk who is on a similar personal journey.
I’ve had The Mermaid Chair on my shelf for ages and picked it up now because we are travelling in the south where the book is set, although the setting is fictional. The author lives on a marsh in South Carolina and since we are currently camping on a marsh, it gave me a heightened atmospheric sense of place while reading.
It’s a great strategy, to not just read and research about the place you are visiting, but to enjoy some fiction that is set there as well.
Joanne's Reading Blog 
I, too, love reading novels set in places I visit. I have not been drawn to this book, although I have loved other novels by Kidd, and her nonfiction book, The Dance of the Dissident Daughter (1996), was a pivotal book in my spiritual journey.
That’s good to know. I’ve only read her fiction thus far. Published more than 25 years ago, I wonder if it would seem dated now?
Yes, I think it would feel dated now, but at the time when I was exploring feminist theology and needing that perspective, it was extremely helpful and supportive.