{"product_id":"the-mermaid-chair-9780143036692","title":"The Mermaid Chair","description":"\u003cb\u003eA transcendent tale of a woman's self-discovery--the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e-bestselling second work of fiction by the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Secret Life of Bees\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Book of Longings \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Inside the church of a Benedictine monastery on 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e When Jessie Sullivan is summoned home to the island to cope with her eccentric mother's seemingly inexplicable behavior, she is living a conventional life with her husband, Hugh, a life \"molded to the smallest space possible.\" Jessie loves Hugh, but once on the island, she finds herself drawn to Brother Thomas, a monk about to take his final vows. Amid a rich community of unforgettable island women and the exotic beauty of marshlands, tidal creeks, and majestic egrets, Jessie grapples with the tension of desire and the struggle to deny it, with a freedom that feels overwhelmingly right, and with the immutable force of home and marriage. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Is the power of the mermaid chair only a myth? Or will it alter the course of Jessie's life? What happens will unlock the roots of her mother's tormented past, but most of all, it will allow Jessie to discover selfhood and a place of belonging as she explores the thin line between the spiritual and the erotic.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSue Monk Kidd's\u003c\/b\u003e first novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Secret Life of Bees\u003c\/i\u003e, spent more than one hundred weeks on the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller list, has sold more than six million copies in the United States, and was turned into an award-winning major motion picture, and has been translated into thirty-six languages. Her second novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Mermaid Chair\u003c\/i\u003e, was a number-one \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller and adapted into a television movie. Her third novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Invention of Wings\u003c\/i\u003e, was a number-one \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller and a selection of Oprah's Book Club 2.0. She is also the author of several acclaimed memoirs, including the New York Times bestseller \u003ci\u003eTraveling with Pomegranates\u003c\/i\u003e, written with her daughter, Ann Kidd Taylor. She lives in Florida. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Penguin Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50613791293714,"sku":"9780143036692","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_9c5f37e7-b7fd-4e73-92ef-4897202b4bd4.jpg?v=1732418102","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-mermaid-chair-9780143036692","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}