The Secret Life of Bees

The Secret Life of Bees is a wonderful story that brings hope and strength to those that are in the midst of a journey through life. The author, Sue Monk Kidd, does an excellent job of drawing the reader into the story. By the end of the novel, the reader has developed a relationship with the main character, Lily Owens, and leaves you wondering what else lies ahead in Lilys life. The story begins during the summer of 1964 in South Carolina. We are immediately drawn into Lilys struggle with a vague memory of the death of her mother. Her mother was shot and killed in a freak accident when she was only four years old. Throughout Lilys journey we discover more and more about her mother and her death.
Lilys journey begins when she goes into town with her African American housekeeper, Rosaleen. The Civil Rights Act has just been passed and Rosaleen is going into town to register to vote. On their way into town Rosaleen gets into a fight with three of the most racist men in town and ends up getting both Lily and herself thrown in jail. Lilys abusive father, T. Ray, bails her out but on their way back they get into an argument about Lilys mother. Not funny? he yelled. Not funny? Why, its the funniest goddamn thing I ever heard: you think your mother is your guardian angel. He laughed again. The woman could have cared less about you. This was absolutely devastating for Lily to hear. She knew she could not stay with T. Ray and live with his physical and emotional abuse. She also knew she needed to find the truth about what happened to her mother.
She decides to break Rosaleen out of jail and travel to Tiburon, South Carolina. It is here where she meets the calendar sisters, May, June and August. While living with them Lily becomes engulfed in a completely different lifestyle from which she came from. She becomes an incredible beekeeper and develops strong relationships with the sisters. Throughout her stay with the sisters she begins to learn more about the truth of her mothers life and the mystery of her death.
Kidd does a remarkable job of drawing parallels between the life of bees and the life that Lily is leading. Each chapter begins with a quote about bees that directly relates to what happens to Lily in that chapter. The struggle that Lily went through when her mother was killed is like the struggle a hive goes through when they lose their queen. A queenless colony is a pitiful and melancholy community; there may be a mournful wail or lament from within.Without intervention, the colony will die. But introduce a new queen and the most extravagant change takes place.
While there is no real replacement for a lost love one, Lily finds an almost motherly comfort within the calendar sisters. Their relationships grow stronger until Lily begins to feel as if she is a member of the family. It was how Sugar-Girl said what she did, like I was truly one of them. [] They didnt even think of me being different. As Lily begins to gain the trust of the sisters she tells them the entire story about her mother, and her leaving T. Ray, and discovers more about her mother than she could have ever imagined.


Honey for the soul   January 29, 2002
 543 out of 647 found this review helpful

If you liked Kaye Gibbon's "Ellen Foster" then Lily Owens will capture your heart. When her father, T. Ray, punished her by making her kneel on grits, I immediately knew that she was a survivor and he was a coward. May, June, and August Boatwright, the beekeeping sisters, and their Black Madonna honey were exquisite. May's tortured soul taught me about empathy gone awry. Sue Monk Kidd's strong southern storytelling skills are reminiscent of Reynolds Price and Harper Lee. In this her first novel, the writing isn't perfect but it tugged at my heart the way Barbara Kingsolver's "Pigs in Heaven" did. The characters, the time period and the small town setting made it similar to "To Kill a Mockingbird." This novel should be read by parents and teens together. I hope Kidd plans a sequel. I care so much about the characters that I yearn to know about their future lives.


Share this with your daughter   December 18, 2002
 18 out of 18 found this review helpful

I gave this book to my 15 year old daughter to read and she came back after finishing it exclaiming, " All those mothers!" Motherhood and its powerful influence (both good and bad) on each of us is a central theme to the story and the quest for all that a mother implies (safety, acceptance, unconditional love)draws the reader immediately to Lily Owen, the 14 year old narrator. I thought this book had beautiful imagery, a nice balance of goodness overcoming loss, and most of all conceded to the power of redemption. Sue Monk Kidd did a wonderful job weaving the racial tensions of the 1960's into the voice of the main character and bringing us, the reader, along for the ride as the young girl discovers what it feels like to be discriminated against herself, the dangers of racial inequality, and the basic human elements that bind us to each other despite color or class. This story is about a journey of growth and addresses that fundamental need in each of us to find answers to the questions of who we are. I have found, months later, that The Secret Life of Bees is still with me and I recommend it over and over again.


Not Only For Adults   March 29, 2003
 16 out of 16 found this review helpful

I picked up this book only because it was always lying around the house(my mother buys books than it takes her about a year to finish them), and wow I am glad this was the book that I choose. I am a sixteen year old trying to cope with the death of my older brother four years ago and while Lily was dealing with a very different loss in this book the realizations that she came to about life, death, and family really affected me. Not only is this a book about family for a more mature audience I think that this is a great book for anyone my age who really wants a good read about the life and trials of someone their own age.


One of those memorable books that changes you   September 28, 2002
 13 out of 13 found this review helpful

Reading this book helped me to remember that love can transform even the deepest wounds. The Black Mary in the story leaves unforgettable images in my mind. Only a writer who has absorbed an incredible storehouse of knowledge about life could have written this. The characters are eccentric and delicious. The setting vibrates with truth. The plot dazzles you with its unexpected twists and turns. Black Mary will remain in my heart forever, just as the "calendar" sisters will. They are archtypes of everyday people we encounter. Those healers-of-our-hearts who arrive unexpectedly to guide us to a higher knowledge. The wailing wall especially touched me. Yes, the pain the world suffers hits some of us especially hard, but nature, the rocks in the wall accepting all that grief, and the river that embraced the lost...the bees...Damn! This was a good book. The kind I return to again and again whenever I need to renew my faith in the human spirit, to realize that something "out there" leads us all to our own Tiburons. Thank you Sue Monk for such a wonderful adventure...from the first page to last, I could hardly breath because I was so awed by the beauty you mapped.