The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd

The setting for this, Sue Monk Kidd's first novel, is South Carolina. Since her family has lived in the Southern States of the USA for at least 200 years, and she has been there most of her fifty plus years, she is well qualified to write about the region and the people in it. As for the bees in the story, she researched them well. At the beginning of each chapter is an interesting piece of information about them, taken from one of the many books she has read. She also visited an apiary. After being suited up in protective clothing she saw the bees in their hives, and went inside a honey house to see the honey making machines and equipment, and ...  Read the complete review

**STORY** 14 year-old Lily Owens has not had an easy childhood. Abused by her father and carrying the guilt over the death of her mother when she was only four years old, Lily's only friend is her fathers employee, Rosaleen. Except it isn't as easy as that. Lily lives in South Carolina during the 1960's, and the fact that Lily has befriended black Rosaleen doesn't make for a happily ever after. After coming to Rosaleen's rescue after a racist attack, Lily and Rosaleen run away, Lily in search of anything that would connect her with her mother. They find themselves at the house of three sisters; August, June and May Boatwright, three black ...  Read the complete review

Lily is a teenager living in 1960s South Carolina. She has had an unhappy childhood - her only memory of her mother is on the day Lily accidentally shot her. Since then, her father has been punishing her just for being alive. Her only friend throughout all of this grief is a black housekeeper called Rosaleen. One day, Rosaleen insults a group of white men; she is badly beaten and jailed. Lily, longing for a better life, manages to help her escape and together they flee to a town called Tiburon, where Lily believes her mother may once have been. Taken in by a family of black beekeeping sisters, Lily and Rosaleen settle in to their new lives. Rosaleen takes care ...  Read the complete review

The secret Life of Bees. "This is a wonderful book, by turns funny, sad, full of incident and shot through with grown-up magic reminiscent of Joanne Harris" Daily Telegraph. I am not sure what made me read this book because the subject matter is not one that I would have chosen, although I found the story to have been quite a reasonable read. The cover was quite tempting, and the storyline from a buyer's perspective seemed interestingly different. My copy was given to me. The Story itself. The story centres around the life of Lily Owen, daughter of a harsh man who keeps a Peach farm, and who grows up almost ...  Read the complete review

The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd This book is a best selling novel which has received much critical acclaim. The book has been adapted into a film by Gina Prince-Blythewood and will be released on October 17th 2008. It is set in South Carolina in the 1960s and is about a young girl, Lily Owens who believes that she accidentally killed her mother when she was younger. She is brought up by her abusive father T. Ray and Rosaleen, a black worker on T. Rays peach farm, who is her only friend throughout all of this grief. At the time of the book black rights are being fought for, including the right for black people to vote. Rosaleen is ...  Read the complete review