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Summary: Loved This Book!!!
Review: This book was a wonderful read! The characters were interesting and the reader could really feel empathy towards Lily and her longing for knowledge about her mother. Lily's character changes and matures through her experiences living with the Boatwright sisters and falling in love with Zach. This book was truly a story of forgiveness...Lily had to forgive her mother for leaving her while forgiving herself for accidentally killing her mother. While losing one mother, she ends up gaining more mothers who love her. Everyone is worthy of love, compassion, and forgiveness. What I also loved is the message that strength comes from within. Lily needed to find her own strength and courage to stand up to her father and fight for the love she rightfully deserved. A wonderful thought provoking novel that I would highly recommend!
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Summary: Beyond the Bees, She Nails the Family Trees
Review: In my aunt's kitchen, a cross stitched picture reads "If you look too far up the family tree, you might find a monkey." The Secret Life of Bees is a wonderfully engaging tale in which the protagonist, Lily, has a family with one such monkey (with all apologies to real monkeys, I mean by this a "completely irascible pest"). Sadly, this pest also happens to be her father, T. Ray.While much of the novel centers around Lily's quest for self-understanding and healing after she leaves her father and seeks refuge within a family of beekeepers", the novel is perhaps most invaluable for the insight it sheds with regard to the nature of the intimate tangled relationships that exist--and continue to exist--between African Americans and Caucasian families in the South. As a native of South Carolina, I feel that this book contains just as many secrets of how relationships are formed between families as it does about secrets of bees. (That being said, I'd also like to add a brief disclaimer for those who do choose to read this book: to my knowledge no one I know has ever used Martha Whites for any other purpose than to eat them!)
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Summary: I really enjoyed this book
Review: I love books about people with whom you can relate too. I enjoyed reading this book. Lily and her courageous ways, I think she made some wise choices for a young girl. There are so many T-Rays in the world, Lord have mercy. The Boatwright sister were me all wrap up into one person. I really enjoyed reading their story. Anyone looking for a good, humorous summer, winter, reading book then read this one, it was that good.
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Summary: Time Well Spent & Worthy of A Second Read
Review: Ms. Kidd has presented the reader with a gift. Characters like these live & breath. Lily-14 years old & so deeply wise. T-Ray;father & tormenter.The Boatright sisters; May,June & August-sheer beauty & humanity. Their seperate personalities unfold on the pages like the silky petals of a camillia blossom.Simply Wonderous. Linking May with her "Wailing Wall" is too-too perfect.In the heart of this reader,May's deepening sensitivity to lifes cruelties spoke louder than expected.She resonates... After 9/11 many of us need such a wall. This story speaks to the heart. Buy it & plan to re-read. Give a copy to your sister. Then, send Ms. Kidd a "Thank-You" card for what she has produced is truly exceptional.
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Summary: Can't stop thinking about it
Review: I've read at least five books since finishing The Secret Life of Bees and my thoughts continue returning to it. I loved this book for its tenderness and insightfulness, its strong yet believable characters, and its plot that is not forced into great action yet retains interest throughout. I highly recommend this book to all.
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Summary: The narrator on the audio cassette made this novel!!
Review: This book is written from the point of view of a 14 yr old girl. The narrator on the audio cassette had such a wonderful voice that I felt transported back to this time and traveled with the characters. A much recomended audio book!! It's nice to read such an uplifting story from time to time.
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Summary: Too heartwarming to dismiss as fantasy
Review: Lily Owens is a 14-year-old girl, living with a neglectful (abusive) father and a black woman, Rosaleen, who has raised her since her mother died when Lily was four year old. She barely remembers her mother, and clings to dim memories of her mother's love. Secret Life of Bee's is a heartwarming, feel-good story set in the 1960's when racial tensions and violence were at an all time high. After a jailbreak arranged by Lily (after a violent encounter Rosaleen had with racists during an insane attempt to exercise some of her newly granted freedoms) these two embark on a road trip to Tiburon, based on a clue from Lily's Mother's past. There they meet a wonderful family of women beekeepers and enjoy an unlikely merger into the truest kind of family. Lily keeps the truth to herself regarding their arrival and in her experiences with Rosaleen, May, June, and August she seeks the truth about her mother and is able to discern that a mother is more than just a biological bond. Each of these women is a teacher and guide to Lily. You will travel with Lily as she experiences life with each of the four remarkable women even if it means looking to someone other than the woman who gave us initial life. It is a lovely story of Mothers. I read this book based on an Amazon review by a dear friend. Thank you so much PLFBB.
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Summary: 10 Gold Stars!
Review: This book was one of the best books of fiction I've read in a long time. It is a book about the inner strengh of one's self. You will reflect on every woman (mother, aunt, sister friend) who showed you their inner strenght to help you grow. It allows you to refelct on you life, love, family and leasons learned. It is a wonderful story with marvelous characters that capture your heart and soul. I've bought this book for my three neices and also given a copy to my two sister in laws. Our book group will be doing this book next month and I can't wait for the discussion. What a treasure!
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Summary: Sweet, but not believable
Review: Secret Life of Bees got lots of good reviews, but I didn't feel it lived up to its promise.
The characters were wonderful, and the dialogue was beautifully rendered. But the entire premise read more like a fairy tale.
I wish I'd borrowed it from the library instead of purchased it in hardback.
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Summary: Comforting and inspiring
Review: I loved this book. It was beautifully written. The story is wonderful. The characters are entirely believable and lovable. I read it in one day; I couldn't put it down. I didn't want to. It is a book I will read again.
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