The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd

 

Jessie ran away from her home on Egret Island as soon as she could.  She left behind her mother who had changed after her father died in a fishing boat accident when Jessie was young.  For the past two decades she has lived with her husband Hugh and her daughter who has just left for college.  With spare time, Jessie starts to realize that she isn't as happy with her life as she had thought.  She has been a wife and a mother but what about being Jessie and doing what makes her happy?

When she receives a call from her mother's best friend telling her that her mother needs her, Jessie doesn't want to go.  But her mother has cut off her finger and obviously isn't well.  Jessie goes back to Egret Island and its sad memories.  Her mother has been the cook for a group of monks who live on the island.  Jessie finds her mother on the monk's property, burying her finger.  Slowly, having Jessie there and the care of her friends seems to make her mother better.

But Jessie isn't better.  Her desire for independence and the ability to recover her painting talent grows.  She tells Hugh that she needs to stay on the island for a while for her mother which is true but not the whole truth.  Jessie has also become attracted to Brother Thomas, a monk about to take his final vows.  Would having an affair with him help her reclaim herself?

This book interested me because I live on the East Coast and I'm familiar with the geography in which the book is set.  The themes of what do we owe our aging parents and the how do we remain ourselves while giving to others are ones that many readers struggle with.  I'm not sure I was that sympathetic with Jessie's affair but perhaps it served a purpose.  This book is recommended for women's fiction readers.