Instruct: Classify Amazon reviews into positive or negative sentiment
Query: unfortunately, a waste of time

I had high hopes for this book, having loved The Secret Life of Bees. But I found this book contrived and fairly forced. The author seemed to gather what she thought would be interesting ideas (a monk, a mermaid chair, the Gullah culture), and then wrote about them unconvincingly. I was left with the impression of catchy ideas patchworked together, rather than insights upwelling from her experience. I suppose the self-absorption of her main characters was a disappointment as well.