TitleThe Secret Life of Bees
Author
Sue Monk Kidd
Copyright
2002
I would not be surprised if you have heard of Sue Monk Kidd and immediately associate her with poorly done chick flicks. It's sad but true that her books tend to get turned into relatively mediocre Lifetime movies (die, Mermaid Chair, DIE). However, Kidd is a brilliant writer and this book is incredibly moving.
This novel takes place in 1964, during that tumultuous time of the Civil Rights Movement. The main character in this novel is named Lily and she has spent her life haunted by the day her mother was killed. Lily remembers this day vividly and it formed much of her identity up until that point. Her relationship with her father is, at best, shaky, but luckily she has the company of Rosaleen (a black nanny) to guide her and give her the love and affection she desperately needs.
When Rosaleen "insults the three deepists racists in town", Lily's world is turned upside down and she breaks Rosaleen out of jail and the two of them run away to Tiburon, South Carolina, a mysterious town her mother wrote on the back of an old picture of the Virgin Mary. There she meets and is "taken in by a trio of black beekeeping sisters" and is forced to confront not only her idealistic views on her mother, but also her own latent racist beliefs.
The two main focuses of this novel are racism and more importantly to the novel, the mother-daughter relationship. The novel is written compellingly with beautiful descriptions and the voice of Lily calls out to the reader and draws you into her world. This is a beautiful book and I highly reccommend it.
Note: Quotes are from the back cover of the novel.
