The Mermaid Chair

"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."

So, I'm generally opposed to books about affairs, but The Mermaid Chair wasn't too terrible. To me, it's more of a coming home story.  Jessie goes back to Egret Island when her widowed mother chops off her finger.  Intentionally. Jessie goes home to find out why and help her mother heal. And, in the process, she discovers a little bit about herself and her history. 

The Mermaid Chair felt familiar, like I had read it before, but I couldn't remember what exactly happened and I kept wanting to know. But even when I found out, when all the pieces came together, it still felt familiar. So maybe I have read the book before? Maybe not. I don't really know.

Over all, this was an okay book.  The characters weren't developed all that well, the story line wasn't really that exciting, everything just felt the same, no real rise and fall, but I didn't really hate the book either. It's just kind of mediocre.