Secret Life Of Bees A Novel

Product Details

Author : Sue Kidd
Binding : Paperback
EAN : 9780142001745
Edition : Reprint
Number of Pages : 336
Product Group : Book
Publication Date : 2003-01-28
Publisher : Penguin Paperbacks

ASIN : 0142001740

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Editorial Reviews

From Amazon.com

In Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees, 14-year-old Lily Owen, neglected by her father and isolated on their Georgia 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

Customer Reviews

I thouroughly enjoyed the journey I took with Lily Owens (2007-10-14)

Lily is 14 the summer her world changes. She lost her mother at four in a terrible accident that she can't remember more than as a blur. Her father T Ray is a hard and manipulating man who shows no love for his daughter. Lily has been raised by Rosaleen, a black woman has been Lily's surrogate mother. Bees are a focal part of Lily's young life. She hears them in the walls at night and her father laughs at her but Lily knows they are there. One day in town Rosaleen insults 3 racists and Lily knows it is finally time to leave and go in search of the mother she lost so long ago. Her journey takes her to the town of Tiburon. A name her mother wrote on the back of a picture of a black madonna. There Lily and Rosaleen are taken in by 3 black sisters, May, June and August. The sisters are beekeepers. So begins the summer of Lily finding herself and what really happened to her mother. This is a wonderful story of life. About mothers and daughters and relationships with women who become our true mothers. I really enjoyed this book. It brought back memories of the soul searching that is involved with the loss of one's mother. It takes time but with time peace can be found.

Y'all Stop Now (2007-07-22)

A motherless girl who sets off on her own to find a mother, it doesn't matter to Lily the color or age, and discovers herself and more than she was expecting. "In the photo by my bed my mother is perptually smiling on me. I guess I have forgiven us both, although sometimes in the night my dreams will take me back to the sadness, and I have to wake up and forgive us again." She is now fourteen and was only four when her mother tragically died in the heat of rage. THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, about maternal loss and betrayal, guilt and forgiveness, has a wisdom about life, entwined with the transforming power of love, and it reminded me so strongly of the books THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER and the ever-popular and jaw-dropping BARK OF THE DOGWOOD. But Kidd's novel has something even these other books don't-a sweetness that feeds the soul. The main character's harsh father had made her believe that she was responsible for the death of her mother. This being a fictional account, the main character could forgive her mother for leaving her alone, seeking for what was taken from her. She longs for and goes on a search to find the single thing her heart longs for. I, on the other hand, could not forgive -- or forget how very helpless a young girl feels as she struggles for some kind of closure to her grief. This is truly a forgiving story for the motherless child in all of us.

A charming little gem (2007-07-04)

A lovely summer read. Women would probably enjoy this more than men. Strong storyline. Unforgettable characters

Touching Heart felt story (2007-02-22)

I really en joyed reading this book. Although it was quite short, the story progresses well and really touches your heart.I agree that it may not be the most "original story idea" the actual story is very compelling and well written. I enjoyed it very much.

A must read (2006-11-23)

This is a must read for all women. The themes in this book run deep and there is a lot of spirituality without being preachy. I would love to meet all of the women in this book. I plan on reading it again to make sure that I did not miss anything. It is one of those books that you are sad to finish reading.

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