The Secret Life of Bees - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com Review
In Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees, 14-year-old Lily Owen, neglected by her father and isolated on their South Carolina peach farm, spends hours imagining a blissful infancy when she was loved and nurtured by her mother, Deborah, whom she barely remembers. These consoling fantasies are her heart's answer to the family story that as a child, in unclear circumstances, Lily accidentally shot and killed her mother. All Lily has left of Deborah is a strange image of a Black Madonna, with the words "Tiburon, South Carolina" scrawled on the back. The search for a mother, and the need to mother oneself, are crucial elements in this well-written coming-of-age story set in the early 1960s against a background of racial violence and unrest. When Lily's beloved nanny, Rosaleen, manages to insult a group of angry white men on her way to register to vote and has to skip town, Lily takes the opportunity to go with her, fleeing to the only place she can think of--Tiburon, South Carolina--determined to find out more about her dead mother. Although the plot threads are too neatly trimmed, The Secret Life of Bees is a carefully crafted novel with an inspired depiction of character. The legend of the Black Madonna and the brave, kind, peculiar women who perpetuate Lily's story dominate the second half of the book, placing Kidd's debut novel squarely in the honored tradition of the Southern Gothic. --Regina Marler

Product Description
Sue Monk Kidd's ravishing debut novel has stolen the hearts of reviewers and readers alike with its strong, assured voice. Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the town's fiercest racists, Lily decides they should both escape to Tiburon, South Carolina--a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. There they are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters who introduce Lily to a mesmerizing world of bees, honey, and the Black Madonna who presides over their household. This is a remarkable story about divine female power and the transforming power of love--a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.

Customer Reviews: Read 1432 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Honey for the soul January 29, 2002
541 out of 645 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.

2 out of 5 stars

Starts with a bang and then ...... May 18, 2003
535 out of 708 found this review helpful

This book came highly recommended by most of the reviewers on Amazon. That coupled with the fact that it was a New York Times Best Sellor lead me to believe that it would be really great. And for the first third of the book that's what I thought. In viewing the Amazon reviews I noted a few critics but blew them off. About a third of the way into the book my mind kept going back to the critics and I kept thinkig how right they were.

The first part of the story about Lily's life with her father and her "escape" with Rosaleen is intriguing. It's well done and keeps your interest. But when Lily and Rosaleen get to the "pink house" and are taken in by the sisters everything seems to go into fantasy land.

I am African American and went to college in 1963 so I remember those years well. In all of the turmoil that the author says in going on in the town, Lily and Zach are just driving around town and no one notices, especially in the scene where the bottle is thrown at the white men. Now this is not that long after Emmette Till is lynched for looking at a white woman in Mississippi. And what about Zach's parents? The author must have gotten the image or Rosaleen off an old Aunt Jemimah box. Are we to beleive that Rosaleen had no family, friends or obligations even if she was in trouble with the law.

For the second third of the book I just wanted to yell out at Lily, "TELL THE TRUTH." Here these folks have taken you in and you continue to lie and decieve them. When she finally finds out about her mother, I wanted to yell out "GET OVER IT." And the coincidence of Lily finding August is just to far fetched to believe. The author could have left some clues for her to follow, but just to think that she walks into this town and finds them is too much to believe.

The story is a nice fantasy but the characters are not real at all. The whole deal about the cult of Mary and the black women isn't even believable. And how the heck did Lily get registered in school? She is a minor and the Boatwright's had no legal custody of her. Her father could have easily gone to court and gotten her back. And one more point that bothered me. There is a real problem in the story about time. I was reading along and thought long periods of time had passed and then the author tells you it's only been a week or a few days. The time sequence is very confusing.

I hope that I'm not the only one that feels this way. But as far as I'm concerned this book is totally overated.

5 out of 5 stars The Secret LIfe of Bees May 2, 2003
127 out of 148 found this review helpful

"The queen, for her part, is the unifying force of the community; if she is removed from the hive, the workers very quickly sense her absence. After a few hours, or even less, they show unmistakable signs of queenlessness."

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 Lilyys life. The story begins during the summer of 1964 in South Carolina. We are immediately drawn into Lilyys 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 Lilyys journey we discover more and more about her mother and her death.
Lilyys 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. Lilyys abusive father, T. Ray, bails her out but on their way back they get into an argument about Lilyys mother. yyNot funny?y he yelled. yNot funny? Why, itys the funniest goddamn thing I ever heard: you think your mother is your guardian angel.y He laughed again. yThe woman could have cared less about you.yy 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 motherys 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. yA queenless colony is a pitiful and melancholy community; there may be a mournful wail or lament from withiny.Without intervention, the colony will die. But introduce a new queen and the most extravagant change takes place.y
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. yIt was how Sugar-Girl said what she did, like I was truly one of them. [y] They didnyt even think of me being different.y 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.

1 out of 5 stars Disappointing June 11, 2003
104 out of 377 found this review helpful

When I picked up this book at the library, no less than 3 women standing around the counter cood "Ooooh, that's a wonderful book!" I couldn't wait to read it. I'm very disappointed with this unbelievable and often silly story.

2 out of 5 stars The Secret Life of Bees January 18, 2004
51 out of 84 found this review helpful

This book is an idyllic model of white/black America. I don't understand why it is rated so high. Some parts of the book were so unbelievable, like when Rosaleen spat on the white men's shoes or when the young black men threw a can at the group of older white men. Who would do that in the deep south in such an unsettling time? I also feel disturbed that the focal point of the story is this innocent, white heroine. It is unsettling to me how many stories of that time focus on the white person: The Cider House Rules, The Power of One, The Secret Life of Bees. The book was somewhat entertaining to read, but very unbelievable.

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