The Secret Life of Bees

Title: The Secret Life of Bees

Author: Sue Monk Kidd

Pages: 302

Genre: Fiction

Grade: A

Synopsis: Lily Owens has very faint memories of her mother who was tragically killed when she was just a young girl. Every succeeding year, her father grows meaner and meaner and more abusive towards Lily. When her black nanny is thrown into jail, Lily comes up with a plot to break her out and then runaway. Set in South Carolina in 1964 they have nowhere to go because nobody will take in a white child and black nanny. They make it to Tiburon, South Carolina where they are taken in by a trio of single beekeeping ladies.

My Review: I can't remember the last time that a book made me cry but this one did. Set in a time and place where racism was the rule the author introduces us to characters that truly look beyond the color of a person's skin. Whenever I read a book set in this time period I am embarrassed for the way white people treated other races. It is a despicable part of American history. What I especially liked about this book is that racial issues weren't the theme of the book but almost everything that happens has to be understood with racial inequality in mind. This is a sad, inspiring, thought-provoking story.

From the Book: "(p. 71) Standing there, I loved myself and I hated myself. That's what the black Mary did to me, made me feel my glory and my shame at the same time."

"(p. 149) "Egg laying is the main thing, Lily. She's the mother of every bee in the hive, and they all depend on her to keep it going. I don't care what their job is--they know the queen is their mother. She's the mother of thousands.""

"(p. 215) Sometimes I didn't even feel like getting out of bed. I took to wearing my days-of-the-week panties out of order. It could be Monday and I'd have on underwear saying Thursday. I just didn't care."