The Secret Life of Bees

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful debut
Review: Kidd's book is a lovely story set in the South of the sixties. Lily is a 14 year old girl caught in an unbearable life with an angry abusive father, and burdened with the guilt of having had a role in the death of her mother. T. Ray forces Lily to work on the peach farm, demands that she respond to his every whim, and isolates her from others her age. Her nanny Rosaleen's rash behavior in reaction to taunts by some whites lands Rosaleen and briefly Lily in jail, and Rosaleen's subsequent beating is the straw that breaks Lily's back.Believing that deep inside she is already a doomed criminal, Lily springs Rosaleen from the hospital and they head to Tiberon SC, the town scribbled on the back of one of the few of her mother's possessions Lily still has.

Lily and Rosaleen make their way to the home of August, May and June, three black sisters who become the real heroines of the story. They take Lily and Rosaleen in, and August teaches Lily the art of beekeeping; Lily in turn experiences what it's like to be loved for the first time.

We know early on that the sisters have some connection to Lily's mother, and the suspense of waiting to find out what it is keeps the story moving. In the meantime we come to know a group of strong, eccentric Southern women, still struggling to escape from their chains a hundred years after the Civil War.

Kidd gets inside the heart and mind of Lily and gives us a sensitive, delicate look at a 14 year old girl. We don't find out until the very end whether Lily and Rosaleen will evade the legal troubles they're in, what Lily's role really was in the death of her mother, and what connection the sisters had with Lily's mother. Several times I feared Kidd would veer in a soppy sentimental too-good-to-be-believable direction, but she avoids it. The ending is in some sense "happy," in some sense only realistic.

I listened to the unabridged audio version of the book and I highly recommend it. The reader's voice was soft, girlish, and very definitely Southern, but at the same time she could give believable renditions of what Rosaleen and the others would have sounded like. It's a pleasure to see more and more unabridged readings of good contemporary literature coming to market.

Rating:
Summary: Another white hero
Review: This book is an idyllic model of white/black America. I don't understand why it is rated so high. In parts of the book it was so unbelievable, for example 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 a tumultuous 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.

Rating:
Summary: Lyrical, haunting, and heartbreaking.
Review: Sue Monk Kidd's first novel, "The Secret Life of Bees," is the deeply moving tale of fourteen-year-old Lily Owens. The year is 1964, a time of tumultuous social change in America. Lily lives on a South Carolina peach farm with her vicious and abusive father, T. Ray. Lily's beloved mother died under mysterious circumstances ten years ago, and Lily is still devastated by her loss.

"The Secret Life of Bees" is the story of Lily's odyssey in search of peace of mind, self-esteem, and most important of all, answers about her mother's past. What was her mother like and how did she die? The search eventually takes Lily and her caretaker, Rosaleen, to the house of August Boatwright and her sisters. August is a fiercely proud black woman who is a successful entrepreneur. She is a skilled beekeeper who sells her delicious honey all over the county. Living with the Boatwrights, Lily learns all about beekeeping, compassion, forgiveness, and love.

Kidd's writing is tremendously evocative. She captures the atmosphere of a small southern town in 1964, a place where deep-seated racism was prevalent and poisonous. Kidd's varied cast of characters range from the cruel and bitter T. Ray to August's sister, May, a woman who is so sensitive that she acts as a lightning rod for the world's troubles. Lily, the narrator of the story, is a deeply wounded soul who may burst if she doesn't find someone to care for her unconditionally.

Many novels have been written about the importance of sisterhood, a person's need to be treated with dignity and respect, and the redeeming power of love. However, very few novels have the insight, warmth, humor, and beautiful descriptive writing of "The Secret Life of Bees." I recommend it highly.

Rating:
Summary: The Heat of August and the Hum of Summer
Review: If I could have reached into the pages and taken Lily's hand in mine, along with Rosaleen's, I would have!
SO many people "oohed and ahhed" over this book that I had no choice but to purchase it and read. I read it in a day.
I didn't move from the couch, I cried and I trusted in what the next page would hold. An utterly beautiful story of innocence, friendship and growing up. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful!
Review: Absolutely one of the best books I've ever read. This story will make you laugh out loud and then cry for the characters' heartaches. This beautifully written tale is one that stays with the reader long after the final chapter has been read. I have recommended this book to several friends and they've all loved it. I wanted to crawl into the story and live with August, May and June. I wanted to mother Lily and protect Rosaleen from injustice. This book changed me. I can't wait for Sue Monk Kidd to produce another jewel like The Secret Life of Bees.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful story
Review: This is a fabulous coming of age story. Lily's mother died when she was very young and has very few memories of her. All she has is a few belongings and broken memories of what happened the day she died. Lilly does not have a good relationship with her father, who blames Lily for her mother's death and whose punishments include kneeling on grits. With the few belongings, she escapes from her father with her black caretaker. One of the belongings Lily has of her mother's is a wooden photo of a black virgin Mary. On the back is inscribed Tiburon, NC. Desperate to find out more about her mother and to escape her father, she heads to Tiburon. She lands on the doorstep of three bee keeping sisters and there she learns about the Black Mary, beekeeping, and about life. Kidd develops the characters so well that you fall in love with them. You can't help but feel for Lily. You get so involved with the characters that you can't put the book down. I hope Kidd writes a sequel because I want to know what happens to Lily next!

Rating:
Summary: if you liked "To Kill a Mockingbird" ....
Review: or "Bastard Out of Carolina", then this is the book for you.

Lily is the only child of a man whom she calls T. Ray, as "Daddy" is a moniker for which he is not qualified. Her mother died when she was 4 years old, allegedly from an accident that Lily caused.

In July 1964, the Civil Rights Act is passed and Rosaleen, Lily's African-American caretaker, goes into town to register to vote. Lily tags along, to get away from T. Ray, using the excuse that she wants to leave the house on her birthday. They run into trouble when some racisst try to block Rosaleen from registering. Through a series of events, Lily and Rosaleen run from their South Carolina town of Sylvan to the town of Tiburon, using a picture that Lily's mother left behind.

They land right in the house of August, June and May Boatwright, who keep bees. Lily lies about how and why she and Rosaleen are there, and they are put to work learning to keep bees and sell honey. Lily starts to find a family in these women to whom she has lied, and tries to discover what she can about her mother.

It's a great book, and well-written. It could have bordered on sentiment and stereotype, but it doesn't. It is also historically accurate, which I greatly appreciate.

Rating:
Summary: Sweet Book that you can't put down
Review: I loved this book. Just below me (or above?), a poster basically said they were disgusted with yet another white heroine. Hmmm... I actually thought the heroines were all the powerful black women that took care of the girl!

Rating:
Summary: The Secret Life of Bees
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling
Review: "The Secret Life of Bees" is probably one of the best books I have recently read. The story is compelling, along with the characters Ms. Kidd portrays. Since others have summarized the book, I won't do that here. A story about survival and friendship, this is one book I would recommend to everyone.