The Mermaid Chair

About The Mermaid Chair

The Mermaid Chair is a 2005 novel written by American novelist Sue Monk Kidd, which has also been adapted as a Lifetime telefilm starring Kim Basinger, which premiered on the network September 9, 2006. The telefilm was directed by Steven Schachter and produced by Michael Frislev and Chad Oakes of Nomadic Pictures. The executive Producer was Randy Robinson and the associate producer was Jay Daniel Beechinor

Jesse returns to Egret Island in order to be with her mother following an episode where her mother chopped off her finger. Jesse is married to Hugh and mother to Dee and has been experiencing the loss of self that comes when life changes (finding herself alone with her husband after her daughter leaves for college). On the island is the monastery where Jesse's mother cooks for the monks. Jesse finds her mother burying her severed finger at the foot of the statue of the patron saint of the monastery and they are found by Father Thomas, whom Jesse falls in love with at first sight. Jesse and the monk have an affair while Jesse is also trying to figure out why her mother severed her finger. Following the severing of a second finger, Jesse's mother's friends hold a meeting where the original conspirators reveal the secrets kept regarding the death of Jesse's father.

Commentary: Much like Kidd's first novel, The Secret Life of Bees, this is about a secret that shapes a woman's life which she discovers during a time when she is discovering herself. Unlike the first novel, Jesse is undergoing a mid-life crisis instead of teenage angst. This book examines guilt, redemption, sin, and forgiveness.