Customer Reviews

The Secret Life of Bees

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Along with Morrison and Walker, this is one of the best modern day depictions of the relationships that we long for, we lose and we misunderstand. It's the women in this novel--they are outstanding characters. One of my favorite quotes is from the narrator: Lily, the 14 year old girl who feels she is "unlovable" until she meets the 3 women in the pink house and rediscovers a bond that she knew was always there but never understood with her deceased mother--Lily, as the narrator, says: "Knowing can be a curse on a person's life. I'd traded in a pack of lies for a pack of truth, and I didn't know which one was heavier. Which one took the most strength to carry around?...once you know the truth, you can't ever go back and pick up your suitcase of lies. Heavier or not, the truth is your now." And to that question that Lily asks as to whether it is better to know or not know the truth August replies: "There is nothing perfect...There is only life." The movie is a fantastic depiction of a book with beautiful images and heart-breaking relationships and a search for something that is unnamed in all of us.

This book was not something I would have normally picked to read. A family member handed it to me to read on vacation. I read it in one sitting! I don't know what drew me into this book, but it was a quick, enjoyable read! Worth your time!

I didn't expect to like this book for some reason, but found I could hardly put it down. It was a moving story; I loved the characters and found myself noting page numbers so that I could go back and re-read passages that I found particularly poignant. One of those books that I will keep and go back and read again someday.

The Secret Life of Bees is about a teenage girl named Lily Owen who lives with her father T.Ray and her house keeper Rosaleen. Lily lost her mother when she was just a little girl and her father and her dont have a great relationship with eachother. she tries to live her life figuring out secrets about her mother's past since her father will not tell her anything about it. Lily and Rosaleen escape to Tiburon, South Carolina where they stay with a trio of sisters, May, August and June Boatwright who hold the secret to her mother's past. The theme of this book i would say would be strong female power. Lily never gave up what she started. she faught for what she wanted and foundher answer. she did whatever it took to get into the house of the beekeepers and she did it, with the help of Rosaleen. Rosaleen knew that if she got caught with breaking the law they would take her in but she risked her life and helped Lily. A symbol in the book would be beeswax. Beeswax was a miracle cure for everything. August used it for anything possible. It was like a type of medicine that attracted more customers. The Beeswax was used on August's candles that were in stores all over the country. I thought that the author did a really good job with characterization. She made Lily a character who had a lot of bravery and strength inside of her. Her actions that she was given gave other minor characters their reaction toward what they thought about her. Lily was loved by the others and thats what they showed by letting her and Rosaleen stay at their house. What I really liked about this book was how Sue Monk Kidd made Lily's situation feel like real life. Of course this problem could happen to anyone and could lose their mother but Kidd made me feel like i was in Lily's shoes and could actually relate to her feelings. However, i didnt like how T.Ray treated Lily. I felt like he should have been the one there for her and treated her like he wanted to be treated, not only because she was his daughter but also because she had lost her mother too.

Review by Caroline Tomsik

"There is nothing perfect," August said from the doorway. "There is only life (Sue Monk Kidd, 256)." This quote teaches an important lesson in The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. It is one of the most powerful books today; it tells a story of mothers, daughters, and the undeniable power of love. Set in 1964 in South Carolina, Lily Owens is still haunted by the day her mother was killed. Dealing with this loss and with a harsh and abusive father, Lily's life is growing hard to bear. Then Rosaleen, Lily's outspoken nanny, is thrown into jail after standing up to three of the most extreme racists in town. Lily sees her chance to escape her father and to help her "stand-in mother." The two run away to Tiburon, South Carolina, where Lily will discover her mother's secret past.

Lily and Rosaleen are soon taken in by May, June, and August, three African-American, beekeeping sisters. Lily will soon be welcomed into the world of bees and honey, where she is introduced to the Black Madonna. Not only will Lily discover the meaning of true family, she will find herself along the way.

The Secret Life of Bees is suited for mature readers looking for a classic story of love and family. This book is well-deserving of a nine out of ten rating. 302 pages of captivating historical fiction, this book will have you relishing every page.

I did like this book, but I didn't love it the way other people told me I would. Kidd is a good writer; that much is obvious. But this book left me a little cold. Maybe it's because I read this shortly after I finished To Kill a Mockingbird, but it felt unoriginal and somewhat predictable. Any story about a white girl in the South who has sympathy for suffering African Americans in the face of institutional racism is going to feel a little preachy; such topics are loaded with politics and for that reason, it's a bold choice for a debut novel. In my opinion, the most interesting assertion in the book was that the narrator had never thought an African American could be smarter than SHE was, although she had told herself that African Americans could be smarter than some white people. I liked that, because it felt honest. Everything else, though, felt a bit plastic. I wish the writer had let the main character be a little less likable and a little more conflicted. I also wish that racism could have been presented a little more subtly. Nonetheless, this book reads well and has a good message. The images are vivid and memorable, and it's well-executed, if somewhat trite.

This is a pleasantly written coming of age story that may not be quite in the league of the classics of this genre such as To Kill a Mockingbird or Catcher in the Rye, but it definitely went down easily and had some insightful things to say about mother-daughter relationships and the early loss of a loved one.

After reading some other reviews I thought I would really like this book but I'm 30 years old with kids of my own. I think my former 14-18 year old self would have really liked this book. I can imagine it being great for introducing the era of the civil rights through literature for the high school crowd.

Overall I did like this book. It was hard to get past the first chapter; it was very slow and hard to read. I thought it was going to set the mood for the whole book, but the author stepped it up and really made you interested in the book.

Lily is a sad girl who doesn't fit in because her Dad makes her feel awful about herself. Her dad is basically a jerk who doesn't care about her at all; it's quite sad. Eventually she runs away and learns that she has a better life living with black people than with her white father. *This book was set back in the times when black people almost had no rights whatsoever!* I believe Lily is right in running away and living with August and her sisters. She has a better life and finds out how to love herself and others. She also learns that she can be loved, which is huge in this story because Lily doesn't believe she can be loved by anyone.

I do recommend this book to others. It was a pretty fast read once you got past the first chapter.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is an outstanding work of modern literature. It is the story of an unhappy young girl living an unhappy life. When it seems that things are about to get a lot worse, Lily decides to stop taking it as it comes, and start fighting for a life for herself. She is surrounded by hypocrites, racists and people who just let things happen instead of making things happen and it all takes place in the south during the civil rights movement. Lily's story is filled with unforgettable characters and Southern flavor. It is brave, funny, scary and heartwarming. There are black people and white people in this story but the color of their hearts is all you really see.
I especially enjoyed the Black Madonna stories laced throughout the tale. For thousands of years men and women have hidden their worship of the Goddess and their ancient rituals behind the worship of Mary. This is why in places of forced conversion there are so many statues of her. Many of the Black Madonna stories are coming to light now and how Goddess worship was secretly practiced by European women enslaved by their cultures and pagans hiding from the church, then black slaves enslaved by whites and lastly feminists looking for religious expression are woven through this tale.