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A mesmerizing novel about women with extraordinary gifts coping with loss, finding forgiveness and especially, learning to forgive themselves. Kidd's strong, irresistible voice catches us up and doesn't let go.
The Secret Life of Bees is the story of Lily Owens, a girl who has shaped her life around one devastating memory—the afternoon her mother was killed, when Lily was four. Besides her harsh and unyielding father, Lily’s only real companion is Rosaleen, a tender, but fierce-hearted black woman who cooks, cleans and acts as her "stand-in mother."
Set in 1964 in South Carolina, a place and time of seething racial divides, violence explodes one summer afternoon, and Rosaleen is arrested and beaten. Lily is desperate, not only to save Rosaleen, but to flee from a life she can no longer endure. Calling upon her colorful wits and youthful daring, she breaks Rosaleen out of jail and the two escape, into what quickly becomes Lily’s quest for the truth about her mother’s life.
They are taken in by three black, bee-keeping sisters, May, June, and August, and Lily is consumed by their secret world of bees and honey, and of the Black Madonna who presides over this household of strong, wise women. Lily’s journey is one of painful secrets and shattering betrayals but that ultimately helps her find the thing her heart longs for most.
The Secret Life Of Bees allows us into a world apart—in a novel whose strong, irresistible voice catches us up and doesn’t let go. The Secret Life Of Bees is a mesmerizing novel about women with extraordinary gifts coping with loss and finding forgiveness and especially, learning to forgive themselves.
This is a gentle tale brimming over with homespun wisdom that should have wide appeal for women everywhere, but especially for teens and young adults living in the USA.
It would also make good background reading for people wishing to understand more about the US civil rights movement in the 1960s – not from the viewpoint of the movers and shakers, but from the perspective of those who, through their quiet everyday actions worked to change things from the bottom up.
This would be a great gift for mothers to share with their daughters, and vice versa – and to discuss in book clubs, especially those that span generational boundaries.
If you liked The Secret Life of Bees, try these:
by Brit Bennett
Published 2022
From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Mothers, a stunning new novel about twin sisters, inseparable as children, who ultimately choose to live in two very different worlds, one black and one white.
by Leah Weiss
Published 2021
A Southern story of friendship forged by books and bees, when the timeless troubles of growing up meet the murky shadows of World War II.
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There are two kinds of light - the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures.
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Anita Shreve
A truly original Southern voice.
