The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd

I did love The Secret Life of Bees, and recall somewhat poorly that the book was about a girl learning more about her mother who had long gone in some fashion.  When I read what this book was about, I found out that it sounded like it would be along the same lines, but instead of the house and beekeepers, it would be about some chair of some kind.  Instead the book read more interestingly, allowing for different perspectives, more angles, more drama, and yet still was provoking in a sense.  Basically a grown woman finds out that her mother has finally gone over the top (cutting off a finger with a cleaver) and rushes out to the island on which she lives to check and figure the mother out.  Of course she falls in love with someone who is not her husband… and on and on in the way you could imagine.  But it’s good, well written, and I just had to finish it this morning.  That good, huh?  Indeed.