The Secret Life of BeesAmazon.com Review
In Sue Monk Kidds
The Secret Life of Bees, 14-year-old Lily Owen, neglected by her father and isolated on their South Carolina 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 hearts answer to the family story that as a child, in unclear circumstances, 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 Lilys 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. Although the plot threads are too neatly trimmed,
The Secret Life of Bees is a carefully crafted novel with an inspired depiction of character. The legend of the Black Madonna and the brave, kind, peculiar women who perpetuate Lilys story dominate the second half of the book, placing Kidds debut novel squarely in the honored tradition of the Southern Gothic.
--Regina Marler Sue Monk Kidds ravishing debut novel has stolen the hearts of reviewers and readers alike with its strong, assured voice. Set in South Carolina in 1964,
The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lilys fierce-hearted "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the towns fiercest racists, Lily decides they should both escape to Tiburon, South Carolina--a town that holds the secret to her mothers past. There they are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters who introduce Lily to a mesmerizing world of bees, honey, and the Black Madonna who presides over their household. This is a remarkable story about divine female power and the transforming power of love--a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.
Rate Points :4.0
Binding :Paperback
Label :Penguin (Non-Classics)
Manufacturer :Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup :Book
Studio :Penguin (Non-Classics)
Publisher :Penguin (Non-Classics)
EAN :9780143114550
Price :$15.00USD
Lowest Price :$5.50USD
