Rating: 
Summary: Proof that simple is beautiful
Review: Sue Monk Kidd is, first and foremost, a tremendously gifted writer. She tells Lily's heartbreaking story in the most rational, credible way imaginable. Her characters instantly become people the reader would like to bring home for tea . . . for honey cake. There are so many aspects of this book that left me in awe, it's hard to know where to begin, what to include here. Kidd has remarkable insight into the lives of Lily, a hardscrabble 14-year-old from rural South Carolina, her sweet and bumbling nanny Rosaleen, seasoned sage August, cooly aloof June, and the overly compassionate and responsive May. Their unlikely meeting and merger into the truest kind of family is unlikely (especially in early 1960s Carolina) but Kidd makes it believable nonetheless. It's just too heartwarming to dismiss as fantasy. As if to defend the novel's somewhat unlikely plot, the narrator Lily tells readers at the end: "Look at me. I dived into one absurd thing after the other, and here I am . . . I wake up to wonder every day". The theme of motherly love is thick in this novel. If nothing else, Kidd illustrates that maternal influence is not one of the dispensible facets of our lives--even if it means looking to someone other than the woman who gave us initial life. In a retreat back to her roots in religious studies, Kidd entwines a fascinating worship of Mary into Lily's life. Mary, mother of thousands, is one Lily looks to most during her darkest hours. The inclusion of a Christian yet beautifully feminine worship is the rock solid core of this lovely novel. Though a compact 300 pages, this novel is full of heartache, joy, laughter, and realizations. It isn't to be taken lightly. Everything--the rural Carolina setting, the social upheavel of the Civil Rights Movement (also a major factor in plot development), and the beatiful coming-of-age story--is exquisitely developed by Kidd. It's not to be missed!
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Summary: Don't Keep This Book a Secret!
Review: Incredible! The Secret Life of Bees is an exquisite coming of age novel, set in South Carolina in the mid 1960s. Lily Owens is a 14 year old girl, living with a father who neglects her, and an African-American woman, Rosaleen, who has raised her since her mother died when Lily was four year old. Lily barely remembers her mother, and clings to fading memories of her mother's love. Her father won't talk about Deborah, Lily's mother, and she is desperate to find out more about her. After angering the biggest bigots in town and getting thrown into jail, Lily and Rosaleen leave town. Going only on an old picture of her mother's, a picture of a Black Madonna with Tiburon, SC written on the back, Lily decides that that is where they need to go. When she walks into the general store in Tiburon, she sees a shelf full of honey jars with the same picture on their labels. She finds out the makers of the honey live just down the road, so Lily and Rosaleen head for the bee keepers, Lily very determined to find out more about her mother. Keeping the truth a secret, Lily and Rosaleen find themselves embraced by the Calendar Sisters, August, May, and June, the women who keep the bees. Frightened to tell the truth, but desperate to find the connection between the Sisters and her mother, Lily discovers what it is like to feel part of a family for the first time in her life. When she is finally able to open up to August, she at last discovers the truth about her mother, and about herself.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Assume About This One
Review: When I began reading this novel, I immediately assumed that it would be just another story about a teen girl in a bad situation who remarkably has an extraordinary hidden talent, and that talent saves her. Well, I proved once again that assumptions are generally wrong as I continued to read "The Secret Life of Bees." The story was actually really interesting, not because of the main character Lily, but rather, the beekeeping sisters and feisty Rosaleen. Perhaps it's a bad thing to have supporting characters draw more interest than the main, but how could anyone expect that the sisters wouldn't steal the show? I personally was drawn in to the world of May, June, and August, especially as I found out more about their struggle and their courage. I liked the fact that although the sisters faced much racial discrimination, they had a successful business, a spiritual core, and a close circle of endearing friends. August was at times an unbelievable character, with all her wisdom and strange knowledge, yet I think we all want a hero like August in our lives, so the doubt about August's character doesn't faze readers. T.Ray was a pathetic character, a foil to August, being the epitome of the worst father ever. I really did feel sorry for him after a while, because he was stuck, frozen in time, unable to change. What was refreshing though, was that his daughter Lily could and did change, eventually having the strength to face her own fears, and keep living afterwards. Lily's journey was definitely worth reading about.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book!!! Excellent writing!!!
Review: I bought this book after attending a book signing and hearing Sue Monk Kidd read a chapter.
This author took a lot of her time to chat with everyone. Ms. Kidd is a wonderful person and after hearing the chapter she read, I was captivated!!
I learned a lot from this book of fiction. The turmoil of the Civil Rights movement was brought to life in a personal kind of way, because I felt like I knew Lily and the Boatright sisters.
I didn't live in the Charleston, SC area until 1979, and now that I read this book, I understand so much more about the people here and the challenges everyone faced.
Lily is a survivor.
Her mother passed away when Lily was a very young girl. Lily hung onto a tiny handful of memories, which lead her to her "adopted" family and knowledge of her mother's personality and relationship to Lily's tough, crude father.
This is a story with bits of surprises woven through the story. It's also a story of friendship, love, understanding, and forgiveness.
A wonderful book by a terrific author! I highly recommend reading this book.
I personally think it would be a great education piece for high schools because the story brings the Southern 1960s to life in a very interesting, relatable way!
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Summary: This Book on Audio
Review: I would recommend that anyone who is thinking of reading this book, consider renting it and listening to it on audio tapes. The woman who reads this book is wonderful. I have listened to many books on tape, and I can honestly say that this book is the best I have ever had the huge pleasure to listen to. (Besides maybe the magnificent reader of the Harry Potter series.) Listening to this lovely, lyrical novel on tape may hook you so firmly that you may never listen to your car radio again.
Rating:
Summary: Orange prize nomination
Review: This was a lovely read, virtually completed in one session!
The narrative begins amid a tense atmosphere: South Carolina, in the 1960s, when black people had just been granted the right to vote, a right begrudged and resented by die-hard supports of racial segregation.
Lily lives on a peach farm with her father, a harsh and uncaring individual, and Rosealeen, the black woman employed after Lily's mother died in a shooting accident. Lily grows up believing she was responsible for her Mother's death, and when Rosaleen is arrested and badly beated on her way to register her right to vote, Lily springs her from gaol, and together they set out to try and resolve the still grieving Lily's need to discover the truth and gain absolution.
A slender clue in Lily's mother's effects leads them to the sanctuary and loving home of three, bee-keeping sisters, where Lily experiences a healing which is as incredible as the behaviour and skills of the honey bees which provide the sisters' liveliehood.
This is a superbly imaginative tale, rich as set honey, and populated by unique individuals; it is allowed to spread out in the great space of the deep South, in a style suggestive of Steinbeck. Reading recommended. A woman's book, I'd venture to suggest, with some sad parts, but, like honey, contains a lovely, sweet healing quality.
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Summary: This book gave me a case of pigment envy
Review: This book made me think for weeks and weeks after I finished it. I loved the way it opened my mind to new possibilities. Characters in it create their own spiritual life and what a fun life it is, despite some really ugly opposition. This novel is deliciously lyrical and powerfully though-provoking. The story is fully satisfying. The only thing that left me uncomfortable (a good thought-provoking sort of discomfort) was the sense of pigment envy it evoked. The author and the main character here are not black, but the main character's physical, spiritual, emotional, and creative healing all come about at the hands of black women and men. I admire Sue Monk Kidd's courage in exploring her own pigment envy. I suppose I'm just not ready to face my own.
Rating:
Summary: superb`
Review: From the very first page, I was in love with this child and couldn't wait to read on. It's sad, lonely, happy, funny, and comforting. A great book for any age.
This is a gutsy kid, much like Ellen Foster, who travels a rough road in life. Surprises until the end.
Rating:
Summary: A Heartwarming Read
Review: The Secret Life of Bee's is an enduring story set on a southern bee farm. The characters will enlighten and warm your heart. The Secret Life of Bee's is similar to many southern stories; however, the bee lore that Kidd interjects throughout makes the book unique and interesting. The Secret Life of Bee's is a heartwarming, feel good read. There are universal lessons about family and self throughout. The main character, Lily Owens is fleeing an abusive father and an all-consuming truth surrounding her mother's death. The Secret Life of Bee's is set in the 1960's when racial tensions and violence were at an all time high. Lily and her caretaker Rosaleen, leave town after a violent encounter with racists while Rosaleen was attempting to exercise some of her newly granted freedoms. Since the death of her mother, Lilly has a few precious clues as to her last days. The clues lead Lily and Rosaleen to Tiburon, South Carolina where they meet the 'calendar sisters', May, June, and August Boatwright. The Boatwright sisters operate a successful Bee farm. Lily and Rosaleen are welcomed to the farm with open arms. Through her work on the farm, Lily is able to examine her past and begin to trust as she finds love again. The Secret Life of Bee's is the story of mothers. The reader will travel with Lily as she experiences each of the four remarkable women ~ Rosaleen, May, June, and August. Each of these women is a teacher and guide to Lily. It is through her experiences that she is able to discern that a mother is more than just a biological bond. A great debut for Sue Monk Kidd. I cannot help thinking that I would have loved to learn more about Boatwright sisters...maybe there is room for another story!
Rating:
Summary: This one requires a "prequel"
Review: Hmm, where to begin on this one. Just let me say that I liked this novel, but did I love it?, no I'm afraid not.(if I could I would have given it a 3.5) Why? well although the writing was lovely and I am rather partial to bees and coming of age stories in general, I was far more interested in the Boatwright sisters and their lives than the life of the main character Lily. What I really would like is a "prequel". I want to know much more about the sisters and how they came to live and work as beekeepers and black women of independent means in a time when that was rare in the South, that would have the makings of a great story! I was also craving much more information about Lily's mother, and her life and relationship with August, along with what happened in her marraige to T. Ray. So I guess overall I did not dislike this story, I was just far more interested the the "supporting" cast so to speak.
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