Most readers know Kidd for her blockbuster novels, The Secret Life of Bees
and The Mermaid Chair
. Yet this nurse-turned-writer was known in traditional Christian circles for years for her inspirational essays and nonfiction spiritual memoirs (When the Heart Waits
) until she turned to a more nontraditional feminine spirituality (The Dance of the Dissident Daughter
). In the introduction, Kidd admits it was difficult to go back and reread her earlier work with an eye to publication. But "[a] significant portion of my life can be understood as spiritual quest and the articulation of that experience." Gleaned from Guideposts
(for which she wrote for a dozen years), Weavings
and other publications, these essays point to Kidd's desire to pay attention to her soul, a "repository of the inner Divine, the truest part of us," from which so much of her writing sprang. The subjects have universal appeal: a child sharing a red scarf with a homeless man; the need for solitude; fishing with her grandfather; the joy and pain of sending a child to college. Most of the essays have a point, which is neatly explained. Kidd's lovely prose, passion for the spiritual life and early instincts for telling a compelling story should help this book attract a wide readership. (Oct.)
