New York: Viking, (2005) dj. Hardcover first edition - The third novel by the author of "The Secret Life of Bees," an exploration of the nature of desire. "Inside the abbey of a Benedictine monastery on tiny 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." Author's note. 335 pp. ISBN: 0-670033944.