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Mermaids in the Basement
Reeling from the loss of her mother, plagued with a bad case of writer's block (and don't even talk about that extra twenty pounds), Renata DeChavannes feels as though everything is just plain wrong. And that was before the tabloids caught her sweetheart, filmmaker Ferg Lauderdale, sharing an intimate squeeze with Hollywood's hottest young tamale.
But the granddaughter of the formidable Honora DeChavannes possesses more hell than belle in her backbone—and she's about to reclaim it. Heading south to Honora's home on the Gulf Coast, Renata is determined to stop feeling like a wilted gardenia and emerge as the unstoppable kudzu her beloved grandmother proudly proclaimed she would be: "I'll just tell you, Sherman may have burned the South, but kudzu will engulf it." But for that to happen Renata's got to face some not-so-genteel ghosts from her past, discover the truth about the mother she desperately misses, and make peace with the first man who abandoned her and broke her heart—her handsome and distant father.
But the granddaughter of the formidable Honora DeChavannes possesses more hell than belle in her backbone—and she's about to reclaim it. Heading south to Honora's home on the Gulf Coast, Renata is determined to stop feeling like a wilted gardenia and emerge as the unstoppable kudzu her beloved grandmother proudly proclaimed she would be: "I'll just tell you, Sherman may have burned the South, but kudzu will engulf it." But for that to happen Renata's got to face some not-so-genteel ghosts from her past, discover the truth about the mother she desperately misses, and make peace with the first man who abandoned her and broke her heart—her handsome and distant father.
291 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
39 people are currently reading
1813 people want to read
About the author
Michael Lee West
11 books406 followersMichael Lee West grew up on the Gulf Coast with a wild tribe of Southern cooks. She lives on a farm near Nashville with her family. Michael is the author of Crazy Ladies, Mad Girls in Love, She Flew the Coop, American Pie, Mad Girls in Love, Mermaids in the Basement, Consuming Passions, and Gone With a Handsomer Man. Her new novel, A Teeny Bit of Trouble, is the second installment in the Teeny Templeton series and will be published on April 10, 2012.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 316 reviews
July 14, 2008
I can't even believe that I finished this book. It had an amazingly beautiful cover and an awesome title. As we all know, that doesn't make a good book - it only grabs your attention. Yikes, this was bad! Full of inappropriate sex, a lame plot, and characters that were supposed to be charming southern crazies, but ended up only crazy. This book was completely ICK! Example: Grandma's best friend tells adult granddaughter how she (friend) had an affair with Granddaughter's Father (bestfriend's son) while he was married to granddaughter's mother. OH - and nobody was upset about it. GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I could give this inane book no stars, I would. Terrible book. You could not pay me to read another book by this author. It boggles the mind that she could even get the book published. The tawdry sex is bad enough, but I understand that it sells. However, this book had no real plot, no action, and characters that were so thin, it was amazing I didn't get papercuts just reading the book. I HATED THIS BOOK WITH THE PASSION USUALLY FELT BY KIDS WHO ARE FORCED TO EAT BRUSSEL SPROUTS!
January 26, 2008
Another AWESOME book by this author! Great characters as always. Wonderful story that keeps you guessing. I wanted to hold myself captive and read entire book in one sitting.
June 1, 2008
Loved, loved it! It was a great a way to start the summer. Being from the coast myself- I loved the story & it's setting. As always with a great book, I'm sad it's over...
April 30, 2008
I loved this book. A young woman who is at odds with her father. She is given a trunk filled with family secrets and one by one she unravels them. I laughed outloud all through it. The tragedy/comedy is well balanced. I inhaled it in a day and want more.
May 14, 2008
Loved this book!! Crazy southern women; great characters!! Would make a great discussion book.
January 26, 2008
Fun, fun read, full of Southern Charm!
April 11, 2008
I loved this book! It's great Southern fiction -- lots of quirky characters and beautiful descriptions. The relationships ring very true. It's funny and touching.
July 2, 2008
Southern living with Hollywood flair and generations of strong women. A 33 year old returns home seeking solace and learns the truth about her mother and father, their love and their divorce.
January 20, 2010
One of my favorite reads for the year.
March 26, 2008
A book about southern women similar in style to Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood. Part of the plot revolves around a woman whose boyfried is cheating on her. The resolution of that plotline occurs very quickly & was a bit unsatisfying.
But other than that, it was a great story and an easy read.
But other than that, it was a great story and an easy read.
April 3, 2008
A sweet and funny book. Once I got past the chick lit opening chapters the book kept me up all night.
June 1, 2008
light easy reading
June 15, 2008
This was a cute book. Its funny and bittersweet. Renata was a troubled little girl in Mad Girls In Love but now she is a 30 something screenwriter with love and career troubles. She goes back to the deep south on a treasure hunt to uncover her late mother's secrets. Her mother was beautiful and wild but all that is a shock to Renata. Along the way she reconnects with her heart surgeon father and is accused of trying to kill his latest girlfriend. This is the last book in the Crazy Ladies trilogy.
July 21, 2008
I loved this book!!! LOVED IT! I actually went to the book store to try to find another book by this author last night after I was done with this book. I'm a big fan of any books that take place in the south. This is the type that I love best.. scorned woman returns to her roots and stays with her family while she tries to figure out her past. It flashes back to the past and comes back to the present. She sorts through her family's "dirty" laundry and it's very entertaining.
February 25, 2008
it was a light read, cute
July 6, 2008
lush and lovely novel with great characters and romantic twists, secrets, and sumptious estates. great summer read.
March 19, 2010
I have only read one other book by Michael Lee West, Crazy Ladies, and I liked it enough to read another one of her books. But this book let me down!
Now I am no literary expert, but don’t tons of people read and proof read this book before it actually goes into print? There are quite a few (what I think are) mistakes with this book. For instance, when Renata and her dad are arguing there is a paragraph that goes like this:
Daddy’s jaw twitched. He pushed away from the desk and started toward the kitchen. Halfway, he stopped and turned. “You are just like your mother,” he said, and pushed away from the desk.
Now how could he push away from the desk the second time if he was already halfway to the kitchen?
Another example would be when Gladys is trying to save Shelby from drowning in the icy bayou and it is clearly explained that she took off her shoes and coat, but once she got out on the ice, Gladys looks down when the ice starts to crack all around her shoes.
Wait, she just took off her shoes, now they are back on? Huh?
Then when Renate, Louie, and Shelby are driving in the car, Louie and Shelby argue over Louie wanting to drive with the convertible top down. They finally agree that he can drive with his window down, but when they get to the tollbooth, he has to roll down his window to pay the fare.
But he already had the window down!?!?!?!
Those are just a few of several mistakes. These type of things really bugged me in this book. But other things bugged me too. While I do like when you get to see another characters point of view during the story, with every chapter it took a paragraph or two to determine who’s point of view I was reading and if it was a past memory or the present. For me, this made the book seem choppy and hard to follow.
Now, I am a sucker for a ’happily ever after’ ending, but this ending was too quickly wrapped up with a pretty bow and all unresolved issues suddenly vanish with a creepy daddy-daughter swim in the bayou. Seriously, how can 10 years of not talking to each other suddenly get resolved in one day.?!?!
I found this book to be very frustrating to read. There were a lot of things that bugged me or didn’t make any sense at all! And there are still a few questions that never get answered, like what really happened the night of the engagement party to Joie? This book just seemed to be one very long narrative of miscommunications and ramblings of self-absorbed people. I would never read it again, nor do I recommend it.
Now I am no literary expert, but don’t tons of people read and proof read this book before it actually goes into print? There are quite a few (what I think are) mistakes with this book. For instance, when Renata and her dad are arguing there is a paragraph that goes like this:
Daddy’s jaw twitched. He pushed away from the desk and started toward the kitchen. Halfway, he stopped and turned. “You are just like your mother,” he said, and pushed away from the desk.
Now how could he push away from the desk the second time if he was already halfway to the kitchen?
Another example would be when Gladys is trying to save Shelby from drowning in the icy bayou and it is clearly explained that she took off her shoes and coat, but once she got out on the ice, Gladys looks down when the ice starts to crack all around her shoes.
Wait, she just took off her shoes, now they are back on? Huh?
Then when Renate, Louie, and Shelby are driving in the car, Louie and Shelby argue over Louie wanting to drive with the convertible top down. They finally agree that he can drive with his window down, but when they get to the tollbooth, he has to roll down his window to pay the fare.
But he already had the window down!?!?!?!
Those are just a few of several mistakes. These type of things really bugged me in this book. But other things bugged me too. While I do like when you get to see another characters point of view during the story, with every chapter it took a paragraph or two to determine who’s point of view I was reading and if it was a past memory or the present. For me, this made the book seem choppy and hard to follow.
Now, I am a sucker for a ’happily ever after’ ending, but this ending was too quickly wrapped up with a pretty bow and all unresolved issues suddenly vanish with a creepy daddy-daughter swim in the bayou. Seriously, how can 10 years of not talking to each other suddenly get resolved in one day.?!?!
I found this book to be very frustrating to read. There were a lot of things that bugged me or didn’t make any sense at all! And there are still a few questions that never get answered, like what really happened the night of the engagement party to Joie? This book just seemed to be one very long narrative of miscommunications and ramblings of self-absorbed people. I would never read it again, nor do I recommend it.
July 23, 2008
If you liked "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood", you will love this book. Woman has falling out with boyfriend, escapes to another town, learns lots of family secrets from mother's best friends, seeks reconciliation with parent, boyfriend gallantly tracks her down, etc. Lots of similar themes. I enjoyed this book. It created interesting characters, and heartbreaking stories where there really is no good guy/bad guy. The mermaid motif was little too forced, and not in any way subtle. Overall, it was a nice read, with charming characters and constant surprises.
July 1, 2008
This book was very entertaining. I enjoyed it. I especially love the part about slipping a little something into food at a party (so funny) and setting designer handbags free. It was totally my style and I found it interesting that the author slightly tied this story into his other book, "Mad Girls in Love." Also, I think that "Zap" is a great name for a tiny, little yappy dog!
Read
June 15, 2008I picked it up because it mentioned Mermaids in the title, but it tried so hard to be zany and interesting that it sucked. I usually describe why I don't like a book and I'm usually more eloquent than "sucked"...but it really sucked.
June 10, 2008
A fun easy read set in the South, totally a book for pleasure!
July 23, 2008
This was a three hankie book. I would have to say it's more like 4 1/2 stars but I will round it off because it's so much fun. I was swept away by the bittersweet romance between a New Orleans heart surgeon and his free spirited wife. Louie and Shelby were star crossed lovers who dearly loved each other but could not seem to get it right. If you are a southern lit scholar, if you are expecting a pulitzer prize novel, this isn't it. But if you want a juicy story, an afternoon escape, with laughter, it won't disappoint.
September 11, 2009
I loved the characters, the plot, the setting, and the great Southern charm of this book. In other words, it was a great read, with wit and wisdom combined as only Southern women can so easily spin. The women in this novel will entertain and educate you with their endearing Southern charm and steel resolve.
April 26, 2008
Total waste of time.
August 5, 2008
This book was insipid. I had to force myself to read it.
August 18, 2008
Fun book. I am sad it is over because I looked forward to reading it every night.
August 20, 2008
This book was an enjoyable book with eccentric characters and a good story. I'm going to read more by this author!
April 17, 2022
A sweet story overall, but I struggled to really get into it.
January 6, 2009
Couldn't put this page-turner by Michael Lee West down! I read it in hard-cover, but today - Jan. 6, 2009 - it comes out in soft-covers at bookstores.
Ripe with Southern charm and sultry atmosphere, West's diverting and funny latest unravels the tangled gossamer web of an eccentric extended Southern family. At the heart of the novel is Renata DeChavannes, who has a pretty full plate: a tabloid ran a story about her longtime film director boyfriend's possible on-set fling with an actress; her mother and step-father died in a plane crash five months ago; her father is about to marry his fourth wife (a squeaky-voiced young thang named Joie); and she's just found a letter written by her mother instructing her to ferret out her mother's dirty secrets. So Renata heads to her Gulf Coast Alabama hometown, where her indomitable grandmother Honora DeChavannes; steadfast former nanny Gladys Boudreax; and Honora's longtime friend and former actress, Isabella D'Agostina McGeehee, live. The story flies by, loaded with grand parties, sumptuous Southern meals, multiple affairs and harrowing calamities. West's storytelling talent shines when she's following around the fiery belles, though she has trouble getting convincingly into the head of Renata's father, Louie, and the profusion of subplots can feel overwhelming. On the whole, it's a joyride, if a sometimes bumpy one. (Jan.)
What the critics are saying:
Recommended by Working Mother—“Charming, Southern joyride of a tale”
Recommended by Good Housekeeping – 2008’s Top Summer Reads
A Pulpwood Queens Book Club Main Selection 2008
Nominated by Salt Lake County Library for the Reader’s Choice Award, Best of 2008
“West (Crazy Ladies) has a knack for realistic and engaging characters. This charming tale will keep readers wanting to know more about the inhabitants of Point Clear. For all public libraries, particularly where women's fiction is popular.”
—Library Journal Starred Review
"West brings humor and an unerring ear for Southern dialect to the proceedings, making her spirited fifth novel a delightful escape."
—People Magazine
“Renenata DeChavannes has always been “more hell than belle”. But it’s moving into her grandmother’s cottage that shows her what she’s really made of in this deliciously zany novel of Southern discomfort.”
—Redbook Magazine
" . .. We ate it up like Grandma’s biscuits and gravy. A light, fun read in which the Deep South setting is as much a character as the characters themselves, it’s got a bold Southern voice and all the charm of a debutante."
—Daily Candy Atlanta
"West's latest sparkles with wit and charm as it takes the reader on an emotional roller-coaster ride that's scintillating and mesmerizing. Readers will adore protagonist Renata,
a tough yet tender woman who rediscovers her family when her relationship with her boyfriend seems to hit a roadblock."
—Romantic Times **** (4 stars)
"Explores the complex bonds between a father and daughter with a murder and a lie thrown in for good measure."
—National Examiner
"Charming."
—OK! Magazine
"West explores the funny, poignant and complex bonds between a daughter 20 pounds overweight with a bad haircut and a luck deficit and her estranged, womanizing, heart-surgeon dad. "
—Clarion Ledger (MS)
"West, who lives on a farm in Lebanon, Tenn., is at her strongest when dealing with Southern women; her male characters are not quite as compelling. Still, she excels with a theme that she has made her own: the ways that mothers and daughters relate. Or fail to. "
—Nashville Scene
“Southern belles hell-bent on belated truth-telling in West’s latest wacky outing (Mad Girls in Love, 2005, etc.).. . the belles’s barbed commentary never fails to entertain.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Ripe with Southern charm and sultry atmosphere, West’s diverting and funny latest unravels the tangled gossamer web of an eccentric extended Southern family . . . The story flies by, loaded with grand parties, sumptuous Southern meals, multiple affairs and harrowing calamities. West’s storytelling talent shines when she’s following around the fiery belles . . . it’s a joyride.”
—Publishers Weekly
“An engaging tale that skips from glitzy romantic Hollywood to Deep South without missing a beat.”
—Booklist
“If Sex and the City and Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood spent the night in New Orleans with a pitcher of mimosas, Mermaids in the Basement would be the product. This novel is purely divine...Michael Lee West is quickly becoming what Harper Lee could’ve become if she’d kept writing.”
--From the Aeroplane Over the Sea
“A quirky, engaging story of a fmily with a graveyard’s worth of skeletons.”
--The Times News
Ripe with Southern charm and sultry atmosphere, West's diverting and funny latest unravels the tangled gossamer web of an eccentric extended Southern family. At the heart of the novel is Renata DeChavannes, who has a pretty full plate: a tabloid ran a story about her longtime film director boyfriend's possible on-set fling with an actress; her mother and step-father died in a plane crash five months ago; her father is about to marry his fourth wife (a squeaky-voiced young thang named Joie); and she's just found a letter written by her mother instructing her to ferret out her mother's dirty secrets. So Renata heads to her Gulf Coast Alabama hometown, where her indomitable grandmother Honora DeChavannes; steadfast former nanny Gladys Boudreax; and Honora's longtime friend and former actress, Isabella D'Agostina McGeehee, live. The story flies by, loaded with grand parties, sumptuous Southern meals, multiple affairs and harrowing calamities. West's storytelling talent shines when she's following around the fiery belles, though she has trouble getting convincingly into the head of Renata's father, Louie, and the profusion of subplots can feel overwhelming. On the whole, it's a joyride, if a sometimes bumpy one. (Jan.)
What the critics are saying:
Recommended by Working Mother—“Charming, Southern joyride of a tale”
Recommended by Good Housekeeping – 2008’s Top Summer Reads
A Pulpwood Queens Book Club Main Selection 2008
Nominated by Salt Lake County Library for the Reader’s Choice Award, Best of 2008
“West (Crazy Ladies) has a knack for realistic and engaging characters. This charming tale will keep readers wanting to know more about the inhabitants of Point Clear. For all public libraries, particularly where women's fiction is popular.”
—Library Journal Starred Review
"West brings humor and an unerring ear for Southern dialect to the proceedings, making her spirited fifth novel a delightful escape."
—People Magazine
“Renenata DeChavannes has always been “more hell than belle”. But it’s moving into her grandmother’s cottage that shows her what she’s really made of in this deliciously zany novel of Southern discomfort.”
—Redbook Magazine
" . .. We ate it up like Grandma’s biscuits and gravy. A light, fun read in which the Deep South setting is as much a character as the characters themselves, it’s got a bold Southern voice and all the charm of a debutante."
—Daily Candy Atlanta
"West's latest sparkles with wit and charm as it takes the reader on an emotional roller-coaster ride that's scintillating and mesmerizing. Readers will adore protagonist Renata,
a tough yet tender woman who rediscovers her family when her relationship with her boyfriend seems to hit a roadblock."
—Romantic Times **** (4 stars)
"Explores the complex bonds between a father and daughter with a murder and a lie thrown in for good measure."
—National Examiner
"Charming."
—OK! Magazine
"West explores the funny, poignant and complex bonds between a daughter 20 pounds overweight with a bad haircut and a luck deficit and her estranged, womanizing, heart-surgeon dad. "
—Clarion Ledger (MS)
"West, who lives on a farm in Lebanon, Tenn., is at her strongest when dealing with Southern women; her male characters are not quite as compelling. Still, she excels with a theme that she has made her own: the ways that mothers and daughters relate. Or fail to. "
—Nashville Scene
“Southern belles hell-bent on belated truth-telling in West’s latest wacky outing (Mad Girls in Love, 2005, etc.).. . the belles’s barbed commentary never fails to entertain.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Ripe with Southern charm and sultry atmosphere, West’s diverting and funny latest unravels the tangled gossamer web of an eccentric extended Southern family . . . The story flies by, loaded with grand parties, sumptuous Southern meals, multiple affairs and harrowing calamities. West’s storytelling talent shines when she’s following around the fiery belles . . . it’s a joyride.”
—Publishers Weekly
“An engaging tale that skips from glitzy romantic Hollywood to Deep South without missing a beat.”
—Booklist
“If Sex and the City and Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood spent the night in New Orleans with a pitcher of mimosas, Mermaids in the Basement would be the product. This novel is purely divine...Michael Lee West is quickly becoming what Harper Lee could’ve become if she’d kept writing.”
--From the Aeroplane Over the Sea
“A quirky, engaging story of a fmily with a graveyard’s worth of skeletons.”
--The Times News
September 21, 2009
Renata DeChavannes is reeling from personal loss. She runs home to her grandmother in Alabama, seeking answers to questions about her mother.
I don't have a lot to say except that I can't help but feel like this has been done before. Younger generation, digging in the past, looking for parents' secrets. Sound familiar? I'm thinking of Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood , and this book is nowhere near as good as that one.
I liked most of the present-day characters. Renata was pretty funny, but apparently pretty dense, but Honora, Gladys, and Isabella were tons of fun. Unfortunately, they weren't really the focus of the story. The focus is on Renata's mother Shelby and her broken relationship with Renata's father, Louie. Everyone talks about Shelby like the only reason she didn't walk on water was because she didn't want to, but once the past starts coming out, I couldn't stand her.
I really don't get what was up with Renata. She's about 30 years old, but you would think that she was five. She seems to know absolutely nothing about family history, even when she's directly involved. An explanation was given, but it was pretty weak. And everyone's supposed to be telling her these old family stories, but when they start talking, it's like Renata's not even there. Instead of, "You weren't a very pretty baby," it's "Renata wasn't a very pretty baby." What's up with that?
The chapters float around between several of the present-day characters. Some of them are titled, "Honora says..." and that made it pretty clear who was talking. But sometimes that was left off and I would think Renata was telling a story only to find out that it was her father. Confusing.
I'm making this sound bad, and it really wasn't. It was decent but forgettable. If it sounds like something you're interested in though, go ahead and dig in. It's not book to regret reading. It's just a book that I'll forget.
I don't have a lot to say except that I can't help but feel like this has been done before. Younger generation, digging in the past, looking for parents' secrets. Sound familiar? I'm thinking of Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood , and this book is nowhere near as good as that one.
I liked most of the present-day characters. Renata was pretty funny, but apparently pretty dense, but Honora, Gladys, and Isabella were tons of fun. Unfortunately, they weren't really the focus of the story. The focus is on Renata's mother Shelby and her broken relationship with Renata's father, Louie. Everyone talks about Shelby like the only reason she didn't walk on water was because she didn't want to, but once the past starts coming out, I couldn't stand her.
I really don't get what was up with Renata. She's about 30 years old, but you would think that she was five. She seems to know absolutely nothing about family history, even when she's directly involved. An explanation was given, but it was pretty weak. And everyone's supposed to be telling her these old family stories, but when they start talking, it's like Renata's not even there. Instead of, "You weren't a very pretty baby," it's "Renata wasn't a very pretty baby." What's up with that?
The chapters float around between several of the present-day characters. Some of them are titled, "Honora says..." and that made it pretty clear who was talking. But sometimes that was left off and I would think Renata was telling a story only to find out that it was her father. Confusing.
I'm making this sound bad, and it really wasn't. It was decent but forgettable. If it sounds like something you're interested in though, go ahead and dig in. It's not book to regret reading. It's just a book that I'll forget.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 316 reviews