Book - The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

I checked this book out from my local library in early July, 2006 and once I started reading it, I had a hard time putting it down. It’s a different kind of book -- very Southern and very much set in a certain time period, the beginning of the Civil Rights movement in the deep South. I must say, though, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It has a certain voice and spirit to it that really appealed to me. I didn’t want to put it down, and that’s the sign of a really good book for me.

Rather than try to write my own synopsis, here’s one I “borrowed” from Amazon.com - “14-year-old Lily Owen, neglected by her father and isolated on their peach farm, spends hours imagining a blissful infancy when she was loved and nurtured by her mother, Deborah, whom she barely remembers. These consoling fantasies are her heart’s answer to the family story that as a child, in unclear cir*****stances, Lily accidentally shot and killed her mother. All Lily has left of Deborah is a strange image of a Black Madonna, with the words “Tiburon, South Carolina” scrawled on the back. The search for a mother, and the need to mother oneself, are crucial elements in this well-written coming-of-age story set in the early 1960s against a background of racial violence and unrest. When Lily’s beloved nanny, Rosaleen, manages to insult a group of angry white men on her way to register to vote and has to skip town, Lily takes the opportunity to go with her, fleeing to the only place she can think of–Tiburon, South Carolina–determined to find out more about her dead mother.”

I rate this book 8 out of 10 stars, maybe a 9, as I really enjoyed it. I definitely recommend it, it's a great read. :)

Added: July 31st 2006
Reviewer: Stace
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