Praise forThe Mermaid Chair
“Book clubs, start your engines. Sue Monk Kidd’s first novel, The Secret Life of Bees, has sold three million copies since 2002…. Those are big shoes to fill, but Kidd acquits herself admirably with The Mermaid Chair…. Both novels drip with vivid images of hot Southern afternoons, droning insects, swooping birds and oases in which nature is the fabric of life. It is a tapestry strengthened by bonds between women that bridge pain and loss. Most important, both have passages of beautiful writing…. Kidd wrote two well-received memoirs before turning to fiction. But perhaps the answer ultimately given by The Mermaid Chair is that a storyteller also can change course and come of age in the middle of her life.”
—USA Today
“Her writing is so smart and sharp, she gives new life to old midlife crises, and she draws connections from the feminine to the divine to the erotic that a lesser writer wouldn’t see, and might not have the guts to follow.”
—Time
“(A) rewarding second novel by the author of the bestselling The Secret Life of Bees. Writing from the perspective of conflicted, discontented Jessie, Kidd achieves a bold intensity and complexity that wasn’t possible in The Secret Life of Bees, narrated by teenage Lily. Jessie’s efforts to cope with marital stagnation; Whit’s crisis of faith; and Nelle’s tormented reckoning with the past will resonate with many readers. This emotionally rich novel, full of sultry, magical descriptions of life in the South, is…another hit for Kidd.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Compelling reading…The writing is soulful in its probing of the human heart and family secrets.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“Secrets are told. Mysteries are revealed. In one rich and satisfying gush…Jessie reevaluates 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.”
—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“If [The Secret Life of ] Bees was a girl’s coming-of-age novel, [The Mermaid ] Chair is a woman’s coming-of-middle-age novel…. The prose thrilled me. Kidd can really turn a phrase and her descriptions of nature’s archetypal elements are magnificent.”
—The Philadelphia Inquirer
“A woman at life’s crossroads, a parent’s tragic death and a strong, if eccentric circle of women. Stir in a forbidden love, and the pages all but turn themselves.”
—Parade
“Kidd grabs you from the first sentence of The Mermaid Chair. It is a satisfying tale that balances Southern gothic…[with] wish-fulfillment romance and a down-to-earth dissection of family problems. Sue Monk Kidd is a high-end practitioner of Ya-Ya-ism, with a lucid prose style and a fine sense of story…. A good read.”
—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Richly rewarding.”
—Chicago Tribune
“Kidd’s second offering is just as gracefully written as her first and possesses an equally compelling story. It should appeal to the many readers who made her first novel a hit with book clubs.”
—Booklist
“Fans of Sue Monk Kidd’s bestselling debut novel, The Secret Life of Bees, will be equally enamored with her beguiling…The Mermaid Chair…. Reconciling the spiritual with the human, The Mermaid Chair is a captivating metaphorical and sensual journey into one woman’s soul. Weaving enduring folklore about the seductive 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 to carry us back home.”
—BookPage
“A well-told tale about marriage, mystery—and mermaids…. Kidd writes at a deeper emotional level than she did in the fabulously popular Bees. Her characters are more tormented, more complex, in their processes of coming unwound and then healing…. Yet it is also a quite powerful feminist statement, and can be savored strictly on the basis of Kidd’s beautiful use of language…. The Mermaid Chair is a multidimensional pleasure.”
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram
“Kidd’s greatest strength as a writer is her sensuous, evocative prose. Egret Island is alive with its scent of salted air, old crab pots, bulling gumbo. The novel is also full, dense with symbolism, from the recurrent motif of the mermaid, diving deep and surfacing, to images of baptism, birds, rebirth. And Kidd continues to emphasize her central insights into the power of secrets to fester, the healing force of honesty and the significance of communities of independent but interwoven women, open to reconfigured rituals of grace…. Kidd suggests that to merge body and soul just might enlarge a sense of what it is to be religious and to be married.”
—Pittsburgh Post Gazette
“[Kidd’s] imagination, originality and command of language never cease. She is simply a profound storyteller.”
—The Denver Post
“Kidd draws on her extensive knowledge of theology and mythology in this insightful book about the passions and desires of body and soul. Kidd…slowly and carefully unveils her story about the meaning of love, the necessity of risk, and the power of forgiveness.”
—Orlando Sentinel
“The steady pulse of Kidd’s writing pushes this narrative from heart-throbber to soul-searcher.”
—Boston Herald
“Kidd’s sparkling imagery in The Mermaid Chair surpasses her efforts in [The Secret Life of ] Bees and helps morph a simple story into something approaching myth…. What keeps Kidd…flying high is her abiding sense of humor (her characters are really ‘characters’), an earthbound understanding of the ebb and flow of life, and her studious attention to the great metaphors of life.”
—Santa Cruz Sentinel
“This lush follow-up finds Kidd asking even bigger questions with the story of a woman whose life and marriage have grown increasingly stale.”
—Breathe
“[An] illuminating investigation of midlife malaise…The Mermaid Chair honors those who conjure up the courage to rediscover and recommit to their life passions.”
—The Seattle Times
“No question: Kidd can write.”
—The San Diego Union-Tribune
“Those who fell in love with Kidd’s first novel will find pleasure here.”
—The Oregonian
“It takes a rare and mysterious novel to speak to our souls in so many ways that we return to the book again and again for refreshment and renewal. Sue Monk Kidd created that kind of magic in The Secret Life of Bees, and her new novel promises to have the same effect…. The Mermaid Chair will lure you into its warm embrace if you have experienced a deep sense of loss in your life that will not let you go. It will appeal to your yearning for a close encounter with grace. It will enchant that secret part of you that loves mermaids and saints. It will touch all those who struggle with the Sacred Feminine in all her incarnations.”
—Spirituality and Health Review
“As a stylist, Kidd is in firm command of her subject. She crafts the Low Country as still life, with impressionistic beauty, complete with Gullah denizens…. The Mermaid Chair provides more than the easy reach for casual readers, for underlying the woman-come-home plot, Kidd provides depth to her characters through thematic contradictions: spirituality versus the erotic, Christian versus mythological, new life through death, ultimately reconciling this writer's overall credo: There is no happiness or spiritual contentment without an appreciation for emptiness and the necessary experience of hell…. The Mermaid Chair exceeds Kidd’s first novel both in scope and in depth. While it is darker in tone, deeper with dysfunction, Kidd reprises the old techniques. She textures her novel with complex characters, rich imagery and seamless symbolism…. The Mermaid Chair proves her versatility as a storyt
eller, her devotion to craft and a heart for the genuine character.”
—The Post & Courier (Charleston)
PENGUIN BOOKS
THE MERMAID CHAIR
Sue Monk Kidd’s first novel, The Secret Life of Bees, spent more than one hundred weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, has sold more than four million copies, and was chosen as the 2004 BookSense Paperback Book of the Year and Good Morning America’s “Read This!” Book Club pick. She is also the author of several acclaimed memoirs and the recipient of numerous awards, including a Poets & Writers Award. Her second novel, The Mermaid Chair, a #1 New York Times bestseller, won the 2005 Quill Book Award for Best General Fiction. She lives near Charleston, South Carolina.
SUE MONK KIDD
The Mermaid Chair
PENGUIN BOOKS
PENGUIN BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A. Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell,Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi–110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), cnr Airborne and Rosedale Roads, Albany, Auckland 1310, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices:
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
First published in the United States of America by Viking Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. 2005 Published in Penguin Books 2006
Copyright © Sue Monk Kidd Ltd., 2005
All rights reserved
An extension of the copyright page appears at the end of this book.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS CATALOGED THE HARDCOVER EDITION AS FOLLOWS:
Kidd, Sue Monk.
The mermaid chair / Sue Monk Kidd.
p. cm.
ISBN: 978-1-1012-0103-9
1. Married women—Fiction. 2. Catholic women—Fiction. 3. South Carolina—Fiction. 4. Spiritual life—Fiction. 5. Benedictines—Fiction. 6. Islands—Fiction. 7. Monks—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3611.I44M47 2005
813'.54—dc22 2004061233
Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purhaser.
The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
To Scott Taylor and Kellie Bayuzick Kidd
with much love
Acknowledgments
It is a privilege to thank those who have made this book possible. I begin with my superb editor, Pamela Dorman. I cannot say enough about the importance of her magnificent editing or her ardent support of me and my work.
I am grateful to my literary agent, Jennifer Rudolph Walsh. A writer could not wish for a more brilliant guide or passionate advocate. My deep thanks also goes to Virginia Barber, a literary agent of extraordinary measure, who has been there for me from the beginning.
I am grateful to all the wonderful people at Viking Penguin: Susan Petersen Kennedy, Clare Ferraro, Kathryn Court, Francesca Belanger, Paul Buckley, Leigh Butler, Rakia Clark, Carolyn Coleburn, Tricia Conley, Maureen Donnelly, John Fagan, Hal Fessenden, Bruce Giffords, Victoria Klose, Judi Powers, Roseanne Serra, Nancy Sheppard, Julie Shiroishi, and Grace Veras. Thank you to the phenomenal sales department: Dick Heffernan, Norman Lidofsky, Mike Brennan, Phil Budnick, Mary Margaret Callahan, Hank Cochrane, Fred Huber, Tim McCall, Patrick Nolan, Don Redpath, Katya Shannon, Glenn Timony, and Trish Weyenberg.
I owe much to the following people for taking time to respond to my questions: Greg Reidinger, for sharing his expertise about boats and for his helpful ideas; Dr. Deborah Milling, for her generosity in assisting me with medical matters in the book; Tim Currie, for helping me grasp the intricacies of hand-tying cast nets; Trenholm Walker, for background on cases of environmental law; Dr. Frank Morris, who kindly provided me with Latin translations.
I cannot imagine having written this book without the loving community of friends who offered me much wisdom and encouragement: Terry Helwig, Susan Hull Walker, Carolyn Rivers, Trisha Sinnott, Curly Clark, Lynne Ravenel, Carol Graf, and Donna Farmer.
I’m grateful to Jim Helwig for friendship and laughter. Thanks to Patti Morrison for always being available with help and good coffee.
I would like to thank my family. My daughter, Ann Kidd Taylor, assisted me with research and also read each chapter as I finished it, offering excellent literary insights and story ideas. There is no doubt that The Mermaid Chair is a better novel because of Ann. Scott Taylor, my son-in-law, has been my ingenious computer and Web consultant, a strong promoter of my work who helped me find information about everything from baseball to the true color of shrimp. My son, Bob Kidd, and my daughter-in-law, Kellie Kidd, have cheered me on with avid enthusiasm and support. Roxie Kidd and Ben Taylor both came into my life as I wrote this novel and remind me every day of what really matters. My parents, Leah and Ridley Monk, have been true champions of my work and filled my life with love and goodness.
My deepest love and gratitude go to my husband, Sandy. During the writing of this book, he bestowed on me an abundance of love, humor, perspective, sound advice, patience, and the best of his culinary skills, threatening only once to join a support group for Spouses of Writers.
I don’t love you as if you were a rose of salt, topaz or arrow of carnations that propagate fire: I love you as one loves certain dark things, secretly, between the shadow and the soul.
—Pablo Neruda
Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along.
—Rumi
The Mermaid Chair
Contents
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
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Epilogue
Author’s Note
Prologue
In the middle of my marriage, when I was above all Hugh’s wife and Dee’s mother, one of those unambiguous women with no desire to disturb the universe, I fell in love with a Benedictine monk.
It happened during the winter and spring of 1988, though I’m only now, a year later, ready to speak of it. They say you can bear anything if you can tell a story about it.
My name is Jessie Sullivan. I stand at the bow of a ferry, looking across Bull’s Bay toward Egret Island, a tiny barrier island off the coast of South Carolina where I grew up. I see it almost a mile out in the water, a small curve of russet and green. The wind is spiked with the smell of my childhood, and the water is ultramarine blue, shining like taffeta. Looking toward the northwest tip of the island, I can’t yet see the spire from the monastery church, but I know it’s there, pricking the white afternoon.
I marvel at how good I was before I met him, how I lived molded to the smallest space possible, my days the size of little beads that passed without passion through my fingers. So few people know what they’re capable of. At forty-two I’d never done anything that took my own breath away, and I suppose now that was part of the problem—my chronic inability to astonish myself.
I promise you, no one judges me more harshly than I do myself; I caused a brilliant wreckage. Some say I fell from grace; they’re being kind. I didn’t fall—I dove.
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