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Title: The Mermaid Chair
Review: Read this for a book club, and thought I would love it, as everyone else had read "Secret Life of Bees." I had not read that one, so I was continually wondering what I was missing as I read "Mermaid." I felt that it was contrived, made an overt effort to be "literary," and omitted important connections that would have made the characters and action more believable. But because the author's style is smooth and natural, it was enjoyable to read--the disappointment comes with the overall lack of character development and reliance on coincidence.
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