Lily is 14, motherless, and about to set out on a deeply emotional voyage of self discovery. Accompanied by her black nanny and fleeing from an emotionally abusive father, as well as the law, she discovers herself, her mother and her future with an eccentic group of black women beekeepers. ( )

A well-written novel of a girl's coming-of-age in the south during the critical first year after the signing of the Civil Rights Act. Most of the story is more personal than political, but the relationships between black and white groups, especially where voting rights were at stake, complicates the troubled family story.

and, you learn a lot about bees!

A wonderful book about a girl who runs away from home and the family who takes her in. Great characters to love. ( )

This was a fabulous heart warming book. I love this period in our history because you will find all types of human emtion, strength and weaknesses. The 1950s and 60s were so profound that any book covering the subject of civil rights from such a personal point of view, is worth reading. The fact that you can find family in the most unexpected places, is truly a testament to the heart. ( )

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is a multilayered novel full of mystery, mysticism and self discovery intertwined with civil rights issues in the deep South. Lily Melissa Owens is a 14 year old girl with a cruel father, no mother and a host of reasons to run away from home. She is often sarcastic, witty, and petulant. When Rosaleen Daise, her “Nanny,” is imprisoned after a fight with racists, Lily helps her escape and the two journey together. They are taken in by an unusual family of sisters who raise bees and practice a unique religion of their own. The sisters help Lily find herself and resolve the pain of having lost her mother.

This book is an excellent choice for students in high school or older. It is much better than the movie, which lacks the sense of mystery and mysticism achieved in the novel.

Those who are interested in understanding how the author shaped the story and the exotic religion the sisters practice might enjoy reading [Traveling with Pomegranates], Kidd’s mother and daughter personal story. ( )

Kitsch. ( )

The Secret Life Of Bees was really well written, and used several discriptive terms that allowed you to make a mental picture in your head. The beginning of the book starts out sad and depressing as Lily describes the death of her mother and the harsh beatings her father ( T-Ray)serves her as a punishment of the trajedy. As the story continues, the author records the journey Lily and her maid, but close friend Rosaleen, take as they leave home and find shelter somewhere else. Sadness turns to happiness as the two find the hospitality August Boatwright and her sisters sisters on their honey farm. Even though T-Ray was constantly fighting to win Lily back and fill her with lives of how her mother never loved her, Lily and Rosaleen still found a way to make peace out of it all. Though the book had its up and down moments, their was a lot of happiness and joy as two people who were treated unfairly found hope for a new and better life.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the unfair treatment of black people in the mid - 1900's, and wants an interesting story that constantly keeps you guessing about what is going to happen next. ( )

Excellent book! I want to see the movie now. Thank you to Jen for sending me the book!! I couldn't put it down..fast read, too! ( )

I liked this book. It's magical and mystical in many ways. The story told from Lily's perspective - one of a searching, hurting, strong, and determined child becoming a woman - also has moments of whimsy as she comments as only a 14 year old could on life's absurdities. In running from her present she finds her her past, while also facing the realities of the real world and racial prejudice. Recommended. ( )

2004

This is one of those books that you just fall into, the kind of book that makes you wish you had the characters in your life as your own friends. Sue Monk Kidds writing folds you into their lives and their troubles and you find yourself really caring about these characters. To me, that makes a book worth reading again every once in a while. ( )

Throughout her whole life, Lily Owens carried the burden of her mother's death. At home, Lily lived with her unloving father, T-Ray, and the one person that cared about her, her black nanny, Rosaleen. Since Lily was a little girl, she would secretly admire her mother's remains, making it a goal of hers to go everywhere her mother went. Though they encountered several unlawful situations and faced racial discrimination, Lily and Rosaleen successfully made it to the Boatwright home, where Lily thought her mother had been before. While at the Boatwright home, Lily learned more about herself than she expected and discovered that her mother's love for her was never absent. Throughout Lily's experiences at the Boatwright home, August, May, and June became the mother-like figures that she never had.

Overall, I thought Sue Monk Kidd very successfully explained the several aspects of Lily Owen's life--the racism that existed towards her nanny, Rosaleen, the absence of a mother-like figure and the weight of her mother's death, and her determination to find out anything she could. I would recommend this book to girls just because the novel is told from a girl's point of view. This novel was definitely a good, quick read. ( )

Let's start my review of the books I've been reading in 2009 with my new favorite: The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Remember that I didn't jot down any notes or anything while I was reading these, and it's been awhile since I've finished them, so I can't remember a lot of details, but I think I can remember enough to give you a fair review.

This was a book I was hesitant about reading. I don't know why, but anything that gets popular too fast is a turn off for me, but if I ever do come around to it, I end up loving it with everyone else (take Twilight, for instance). This book was no exception. My mom lent me her copy with her firm suggestion of reading it, and it didn't take me long to start, and then even less time to realize I couldn't put it down.

This is the story of Lily Owens, a Southern girl living with the guilt of her mother's death and the harshness of her unloving father during America's turbulent 60s. While trying to find her own path (and running from the law) she stumbles upon three black, beekeeping sisters, who teach her more than she bargained for.

Kidd does a wonderful job with the writing. Before each chapter she has an excerpt from different books giving details about bees and their culture, each a tiny glimpse into what awaits in the following chapter. The voice is spot-on and Lily's character is smart, lovable, and completely real. The sisters she meets are exactly who they should be; no other set of characters could have done a better job of guiding Lily to her ultimate realizations.

I loved this book, and therefore I give it 5 out of 5 stars, and I would definitely read it again (which is the biggest complement I can give a book). If you're looking for a good book to just pick up and get lost in, this is it. ( )

It's hard to describe this book without going into a lot of detail. It's more or less about Lily, a teenager living in 1960s South Carolina, and her dealings with race, prejudice, and the death of her mother. It's a sweet and gentle story of acceptance and forgiveness. A touch predictable, but not exasperatingly so. All in all it's just a nice little tale. ( )

I actually wasn't interested in this book until seeing a preview for the movie. It's a great look at Southern society in 1964, as well as an examination of the life of a motherless child. It could have been a great deal longer - there were several relationships I was still curious about at the end of the book - but I was still happy to have been talked into reading it after all. ( )

Rather twee.

Wow! I was blown away by this book. The writing was absolutely beautiful. I had to reread some of the lines and just let them sink in and cherish them for a while. I want to see the movie but fear that, as usually happens with movies, it will pale in comparison to the book. What a wonderful writer. I want more. ( )

My daughter had to read this book for school, so I read it, too. She tolerated it; I loved it. If you like slice of life novels from the perspective of a wise/baffled young person, you'll enjoy the tale. Lots of quirky characters and some laugh out loud bits and pieces (I especially enjoyed the commentary on the drive through funeral parlor...)

Another from my southern fiction faze, just after we came back from a year living and working in Gerogia, USA. Haven't seen the movie yet. Don't want to spoil my memories of the characters. ( )

Reviewed by Penny Stevens in School Library Journal (May 1, 2002), Also in Booklist (December 1, 2001 (Vol. 98, No. 7), Kirkus Review (October 15, 2001), Library Journal (December 1, 2001), Publishers Weekly (November 12, 2001). All found in Follett Titlewave.

A story about a girl in the South in the 50's and black civil rights ( )

I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this one as am quite wary of hyped books. But this was a pleasant surprise. It is a coming-of-age story, of mother-daughter relations, and of racism and being different. Think Yaya sisterhood meets To Kill a Mockingbird. ( )

Set in 1960's America, The Secret Life of Bees is the story of Lily Owens, a young girl, whose life is haunted by the accidental death of her mother. After her mother's death, Lily is raised by her abusive father and by a black nanny, Rosaleen. Whilst on her way to register to vote, Rosaleen insults three of the county's most vehement racists and is beaten and jailed. Fearing that Rosaleen will be killed by her attackers, Lily helps her escape from the hospital where she is being treated and held prisoner, and together they go on the run. Still questioning her mother's death and love, Lily heads toward a town where she believes her mother once lived. There she finds the beekeeping Boatwright sisters, May, June and August, who take her in. Living in their house, she finally discovers the truth about her mother, as well unconditional love and peace of mind.

I finished The Secret Life of Bees about a week ago, and I've been mulling it over ever since. On the whole, it was an enjoyable read, but there was something a little off about it, and I still can't quite put my finger on what it was. It might have been the writing itself. There were some great descriptions and figures of speech that were truly inspired, but some of it seemed to wander all over the place. It might have been the story. It is a story that deals with racism, but for me it was a little twee in places, not as gritty and uncomfortable as others I've read. It might have been the characters. While they were not strictly stereotypical, there was enough about them for me to want to call them predictable. It might have been the author's use of time. On the odd occasion I did lose a sense of how fast the story was progressing. I remember at one point, feeling as if Lily had been a part of the Boatwright house for months, and then reading that only a week had passed. It might have been the moral of the story. I did feel things got preachy toward the end, and what could have been left to the reader to intuit was spelled out too clearly.

Having said all that, I did appreciate all the little snippets of bee information at the start of each chapter. Once I had read each chapter, I went back and read them again and marvelled at how well the suited the subject of the chapter. A nice touch. I was left thinking that it would be a much better world if we could just get along like the bees do! Stories about injustice, inequality and unfairness always make me angry, and this one was no exception. It's a good anger though, it's an anger that reminds me that when things are wrong we should all do our part to combat them. ( )

Unique, funny, sad -great book! ( )

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1303616...

I have been working my way through various US bestsellers of recent years, due to various manipulations of the top unread books lists in various places. This one is about a teenage white girl in about 1964, who flees her abusive father to the far side of South Carolina, where she ends up living with the same black family of bee-keepers who had sheltered her mother many years before. There's lots of lovely symbolism in the processes of apiculture and (more unexpectedly) the Blessed Virgin Mary. I couldn't help but notice, though, that the laudatory blurbs all seemed to be by white critics; I wonder how this has been received in the black community? ( )