Rating: 
Summary: An Enjoyable Way To Pass The Time!
Review: Okay first off as many reviewers have already stated this is NOT "To Kill A Mockingbird". If your fine with this, or are able to get past this you will find that this is an enjoyable book that although may not be considered one of the "classics" later on in time is still worthy of reading.Ms. Monk Kidd has picked a very touchy subject to write about and I feel manages to tackle many different aspects of the Civil-rights movement that many are not willing to touch. So what that Lily is the only white heroine surrounded by African-American women? These women do indeed have something to teach the young and yes abused Lily. If you are a reader that needs to have a message in a book to find it enjoyable then the message you will find here which I think many are overlooking is the message of acceptance. Again I think many that have read this book have gone in with very high expectations ("To Kill A Mockingbird") and of course this novel will fall short if your going to compare it to the previously stated classic. If you are one of the few that have the ability to open a book and read it for what it has to offer then you will find this book to be an enjoyable read.
Rating: 
Summary: Ignore the person before me - this is a fabulous book!
Review: I normally do not write reviews, but reading how someone took a fictional, wonderful story and tried to demean it by pointing out "historical facts" irritates me. The book wanted to cover a time period where there was racial tension, but the book was not meant to be historical, nor was it supposed to be read from that perspective. It's a deeply touching book, where you relate to each of the characters, wishing that you could meet such a variety of types of people in one home. It's a book of journey. Please ignore people who want to make black/white issues and accuracy on history so prominent that they completely miss the story - and completely dismiss the wonderful way that Sue Monk Kidd portrayed the black characters (strong, loving, family oriented, thoughtful, independent, hardworking, and giving).
My mother, who is 54, read this book for her bookclub. She then passed it on to me, a 20 year old, who passed it on to my roommate, 21, who passed it on to her mom, 42, who passed it on to her neice, 13. My point is that this book is perfect for all ages, and it is a quick and heart felt read. I would recommend this highly for any woman, or girl who is over 11 or 12. It's a best seller for a reason - it's an excellent read.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous book; heartwarming and thought provoking
Review: I absoluty loved this story. I thought the main character Lily was precocious and endearing.I felt her pain while living with her abusive father T.Ray. The only bright light at home is her "housekeeper", Rosealeen. She is an African American woman doing her best to take care of Lily and soften the blow of her father's wrath. The book includes the mystery of Lily's mother's death whioch leads her on a wonderful journey. A series of events that includes Rosealeen spitting tocacco on a white man's shoes causes the pair to run away to a different town where they meet three remarkable African American women who change both their lives. May, August, and June are the women. These women raise bees and make honey. This sounds dull but it turns into an adventure for Lily. They all struggle together to find theri own identities. The process allows them to learn things about themselves and each other that are remarkable and life changing. I read a review by a customer who said that this book was not beleivable. There are certain events that take place that are emotional and seem preventable. I am sure that the writer of this book did her research. She grew up during the time of sixties racial strife. I certainly think she has a good grasp of life in the south during this time. This holds true particularly where she describes the struggles between African Americans and whites. I am sure that even then there were strong African American women who broke the rules all the time regardless of the consquences. Their actions may have seemed stupid or just plain dangerous. I call it courageous. It sure started the change towards a better life and rights for the African American. Every change starts with one small voice and/or action.
Rating:
Summary: Poetic, insightful, and wise
Review: "The Secret Life of Bees" is a beautiful and unforgettable story, set in the American South in the 1960's. The story teller is fourteen year old Lily Owen; a lonely adolescent tormented by the murky memory of her mother's death, and the real life neglect and abuse by her father. Told in the first person, each paragraph is profound, with statements that are poetic, insightful, and wise in their simplicity. The one saving grace in Lily's life is her nanny Rosaleen. The Civil Rights Bill has passed, and Rosaleen decides she is going to register to vote; an act of bravery for a black woman in South Carolina in 1964. The walk turns ugly when Rosaleen has a confrontation with three racists, resulting in Rosaleen's arrest. Events escalate, and Lily and Rosaleen flee injustice and violence. Fugitives from the law, vulnerable and on the lam, their options of where to go are few. But Lily has kept one item from her dead mother's meager possessions. It is a Black Madonna image with the name "Tiburon, South Carolina" on the back. With this picture in hand, their destination is chosen. Throughout this story are the themes of bees, and the making of honey. Bees working, doing their job, while the world continues on around them. The characterization in this book is wonderful. The women are beautiful, eccentric, strong, loyal and wise. They are unique and believable, and by the end of the book, they are dear friends to the reader. Dear sweet friends, like honey.
Rating:
Summary: Real Love is Color Blind
Review: The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd is set in the American South in 1964 in the year of the Civil Rights Act during intensifying racial unrest. The love shared by the motherless neglected fourteen year old Lily Owens and Roselyn, her outspoken African American nanny, demonstrates love's ability to transcend time, race and place.
When Roselyn attempts to vote, she resists an attack by three racists in town and is thrown in jail. Lily rescues her and together they escape to start a new life in Tiburon, South Carolina with three African American bee keeping sisters, May, June and August who pray to God via the Black Madonna. Lily chose the town of Tiburon because a box belonging to her deceased mother had a black Virgin Mary with the words "Tiburon, South Carolina" on it.
Kidd shows how the lives of bees can parallel our own. She says while researching the lives of bees she discovered there is a mystique about them and that in ancient times bees were considered a symbol of the soul, of death and rebirth.
The characters leap off the pages into our hearts. Lily with her feelings ranging from idealization to hatred concerning her dead mother and staying confused about the circumstances that lead to her mother's death. May being so sensitive she has a Wailing Wall to help her come to terms with the pain she feels. June with her unresolved fears which makes her seem angry and mean-spirited. August with her kindness, patience and wisdom. She instructs Lily, "Not just to love-but to persist in love...If you need something from someone, always give that person a way to hand it to you."
Kidd's novel shows us how real love and strong community is color blind and how it can not only help heal circumstances but encourages us to grow into our destiny.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Book!
Review: I very much enjoyed the book, The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd. It was written very well and kept my interest until the very end. My favorite aspect of this book would have to be the characters. Sue Monk Kidd was able to bring the characters to life. I felt like I was standing right there with them in the scene of the book. The characters were so different from each other but also alike in some ways. The main character, Lily, is a 14 year old girl who ran away from her abusive, cowardly father, T. Ray. Lily will always be haunted by the day she accidentally shot her own mother at the age of four. Her entire life revolves around the loss of her mother. She is in constant search of forgiveness and for any knowledge or connection to her mother. Rosaleen, who has been like a mother to Lily, has been hired to take care of Lily. Rosaleen is a strong character who stands up for what she believes in. But sometimes that personality trait gets her into trouble. This book takes place in the mid 1960's in South Carolina during the civil rights movement. The issue of Rosaleen being black and Lily being white creates racial tension throughout the book. One part of the book I don't find accurate of the time period is when Rosaleen encounters the most racist three men in town and spits on their shoes. Another example is when Jackson, also black, throws a bottle a white man's head for no apparent reason. I don't think that is a true portrayal of the time period. Rosaleen and Lily end up living with three sisters that live in a pink house and bee-keep in the town of Tiburon. Lily chose that town because her mother owned a black Madonna that later is found out to have been on a label for honey made by the three sisters. Lily is a true survivor and has overlooked prejudice and hatred, which unfortunately was common during that time. Her friendship with the three sisters taught her of spiritual strength, sisterhood, and forgiveness. This book was sentimental and that was one the reasons I had trouble putting it down. I also liked how each chapter includes a quote about bees that relates to the chapter. The simplistic plot and easy to understand language made this book very enjoyable to read.
Rating:
Summary: Superb. Sue Monk Kidd is a brilliant writer.
Review: This is a compelling and engaging story. It is _expertly_ written. Sue Monk Kidd is a brilliant writer. This book hooks you from the beginning and tears your heart out, then takes you on an emotional roller coaster. I couldn't put it down. Very moving - one of the best books I've ever read. I bought copies for my mother and my sister and they loved it, too. A must-read for all women.
Rating:
Summary: I Didn't Get It
Review: Frankly, I just don't get the hype on this book. Not a terrible book, just didn't interest me that much.
Rating:
Summary: Fine writing, realistic story
Review: The Secret Life of Bees is one of the most satisfying books I have ever read. And I found it realistic, reflecting a region, the South, and a time, the mid-1960s, with fine accuracy. I was surprised at some of the previous customer reviews, especially those people who said they could not believe the characters or actions. What planet were these people living on, if they were indeed around at that time? I was a senior in college during this year, 1964, and I know by fact of experience that the actions portrayed in this book are dead-on. Some reviewers here questioned the actions of the young black men in the book, such as throwing a bottle at a white man. Well, I saw an angry black teenager knock an elderly white woman off the sidewalk and into the street. I also was alone in a laundromat late at night when a black teenager ran in begging for my help because he was being abused by three drunken white men, who came in and roughed him up in front of me before he was able to escape. Therefore, I do not doubt any events portrayed in this book. As for the characters, while I was growing up in South Georgia during the 40s and 50s, I knew African-American women much like the ones portrayed here. I have no doubt that many of them would have been as willing as August and May to help a young white girl in need. And I have no doubt some would have reacted to her the way June did at first, with misgivings. I certainly knew a few T.Rays along the way. I found all the characters to be legitimate and realistic. Some reviewers questioned the worship use of a Black Madonna, not taking into account the rich diversity of religious experience in Southern cultures. A major emphasis of the book is finding spiritual strength wherever you can, whether through a makeshift wailing wall, or the converted masthead of a sailing ship.
But the book is mainly about the needs and strengths of sisterhood, and about mothers and daughters, and I put it in the same category with Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and Steel Magnolias. (Yes, this story is tailor-made for movie time.) Sue Monk Kidd's writing is fabulous, perfectly evoking even the slightest nuances of time and place, and dripping with the essence of both honey and grits - though daddy T.Ray does have a unique use for the latter. T.Ray is the sort of man whose only kindness is for his bird dog, and when our fourteen-year-old heroine tells us, "I've seen Snout pee on T.Ray's boot and it not get a rise out of him," we know this is a girl who seriously needs to find a mother. Which she does, in a remarkable way.
Rating:
Summary: A Little Gem
Review: When I started The Secret Life of Bees I hadn't realized that the storyline was of a white, southern 14-year-old girl who runs away from an abusive father, takes solace amongst a group of black women and, in doing so, discovers both her past and her salvation. I likely would not have read the book if I had known this. But fortunately I didn't and launched into chapter one. I quickly devoured the book and, to my surprise, found that I thoroughly enjoyed it. To those criticisms that The Secret Life of Bees is overly sentimental, that the characters are one-dimensional or that the race relations portrayed are skewed I can only state that I did not find that to be the case nor did I find that to be a problem. I doubt that author Sue Monk Kidd intended to write novel about the civil rights movement in the 60's or about the complex nature of black/white relationships in the South. This is simply a wonderful story told within the context of those times. Sometimes simple is better. And The Secret Life of Bees is simply one of those better novels.
|
