The Mermaid Chair - Sue Monk Kidd

This is a story about a woman's journey to self-discovery or self-belonging. Her whole life-changing experience begins when she goes to her childhood home to help her sick mother and meets a monk at the island monastery who is about to take his final vows. It's not hard to guess what happens...the story is pretty predictable (even just reading the dust jacket) so you may already know what I am referring to here. Now, I know that a lot has to go on within and without a character, usually something potentially dangerous or threatening in some way or another, for a character to really change in this type of story. I just didn't think it was entirely necessary for her to hurt her husband the way she did. I think she could have had a very intimate and meaningful relationship with Brother Thomas on a different level that was just as spiritual and eye-opening as the one they ended up sharing in this book. Aside from that, I did like the whole mother-daughter-father web of issues and mystery. I also enjoyed the little bits of semi-fake mermaid and saint history that was included. The writer's style is very fluid and poetic so I can see why so many people like reading her stuff, but at the end, it wasn't stimulating enough for me.