The Secret Life of Bees: Summary and book reviews of The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, plus links to an excerpt from The Secret Life of Bees and a biography of Sue Monk Kidd.
The Secret Life of Bees
by Sue Monk Kidd
Hardcover: Jan 2002,
320 pages.
Paperback: Jan 2003,
320 pages.
The Secret Life of Bees is the story of Lily Owens, a girl who has shaped her life around one devastating memory—the afternoon her mother was killed, when Lily was four. Besides her harsh and unyielding father, Lily’s only real companion is Rosaleen, a tender, but fierce-hearted black woman who cooks, cleans and acts as her "stand-in mother."
Set in 1964 in South Carolina, a place and time of seething racial divides, violence explodes one summer afternoon, and Rosaleen is arrested and beaten. Lily is desperate, not only to save Rosaleen, but to flee from a life she can no longer endure. Calling upon her colorful wits and youthful daring, she breaks Rosaleen out of jail and the two escape, into what quickly becomes Lily’s quest for the truth about her mother’s life.
They are taken in by three black, bee-keeping sisters, May, June, and August, and Lily is consumed by their secret world of bees and honey, and of the Black Madonna who presides over this household of strong, wise women. Lily’s journey is one of painful secrets and shattering betrayals but that ultimately helps her find the thing her heart longs for most.
The Secret Life Of Bees allows us into a world apart—in a novel whose strong, irresistible voice catches us up and doesn’t let go. The Secret Life Of Bees is a mesmerizing novel about women with extraordinary gifts coping with loss and finding forgiveness and especially, learning to forgive themselves.
This is a gentle tale brimming over with homespun wisdom that should have wide appeal for women everywhere, but especially for teens and young adults living in the USA. It would also make good background reading for people wishing to understand more about the US civil rights movement in the 1960s – not from the viewpoint of the movers and shakers, but from the perspective of those who, through their quiet everyday actions worked to change things from the bottom up.
This would be a great gift for mothers to share with their daughters, and vice versa – and to discuss in book clubs, especially those that span generational boundaries.
Media Reviews
The New York Times Book Review
Lily is a wonderfully petulant and self-absorbed adolescent, and Kidd deftly portrays her sense of injustice as it expands to accommodate broader social evils. At the same time the political aspects of Lily's growth never threaten to overwhelm the personal. The core of this story is Lily's search for a mother, and she finds one in a place she never expected.... She finds her Madonna in a woman named August Boatwright, the proprietor of a honey farm that's a harbor of quiet civility. August and her sisters, June and May, are no mere vehicles for Lily's salvation; they are individuals as fully imagined as the sweltering, kudzu-carpeted landscape that surrounds them.
The Los Angeles Times Book Review
Lily Melissa Owens... the brave girl at the heart of this novel... frees her babysitter, a black maid who has been abused by several white men and put in jail for it, and the two of them follow Lily's instincts to safety. The Secret Life of Bees is one of those novels that leaves a reader more confident Heck, if this kid could do it, so can I.
The Washington Post
The tale of one motherless daughter's discovery of what family really means—and of the strange and wonderful places we find love.
USA Today
A moving first novel...Lily is an authentic and winning character and her story is compellingly told. The bees presage her journey toward self-acceptance, faith and freedom.
The Baltimore Sun
...Sue Monk Kidd is a direct literary descendant of Carson McCullers.
People Magazine
Populated with rich, believable characters and propelled by a swiftly paced plot, this debut novel is a cut above most coming-of-age tales. You’ll be glad you went along for the ride. Bottom line Buzz-worthy.
Ursula Hegi
Sue Monk Kidd is an extraordinary storyteller. Beautifully written.
Connie May Fowler
A wonderful novel about mothers and daughters and the transcendent power of love.
Christina Schwarz
With imagination as lush and colorful as the American South, a clutch of deliciously eccentric characters and vivid prose, Sue Monk Kidd creates a rich, maternal haven in a harsh world.
Anita Shreve
A truly original Southern voice.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by Avid Reader Not Good at All I did not enjoy this book at all. It was under developed and was drug out. In the middle of the book nothing really happened these parts could have been left out. Although it showed many examples of racism and prejudice it was an overly... Read More
Rated of 5
by Cloggie Downunder heartwarming The Secret Life of Bees is the first novel by Sue Monk Kidd. Set in 1964, this is the story of Lily Melissa Owens, who lives on a peach farm in South Carolina. At four years of age, Lily accidentally killed her mother. Her father is a harsh and... Read More
Rated of 5
by SammieBabyy Good Shxt This book was actually very good. I don't really like to read, but this was something I had to read more than twice!
Rated of 5
by Alina A Modern Classic! The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is an inspiring and fantastic novel. I recommended the story of Lily Owens to anybody!
Rated of 5
by Elizabeth Heartwrenching but heartwarming as well I thought this was a wonderful book....the main character had a lot of "guts" to just up and leave to find where her mother had gotten the Madonna.
I enjoyed how the adults just took her in and it sure was uncanny how her mother had... Read More
Rated of 5
by Anna Chilling... 'The Secret Life of Bees' was a very chilling book to read. It was so sad how 'Blacks' were treated in those days. I adore this book now it is one of my many favourites. And i would recomend it to any one.
Amaryllis in Blueberry explores the complexity of human relationships through the haunting voices of Dick and Seena Slepy and their four daughters in a soulful novel which weaves together the past and the present of a family harmed—and healed—by buried secrets.
A poignant and often darkly funny story of a resourceful seven-year-old growing up in an isolated house in Bond Brook, Maine.
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