Book review: The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

The Secret Life of Bees is a historical fiction novel by American author Sue Monk Kidd. 

An angsty white teenager with a tragic backstory learns about self-acceptance and forgiveness with the aid of a feisty group of black women and unlikely members of the natural world. 

The Secret Life of Bees was originally published in 2001. The novel has since sold more than eight million copies worldwide and has been translated into 36 languages. It also stayed on the New York Times best seller list for two and a half years. It won the 2004 Book Sense Book of the Year Awards (Paperback), and was nominated for the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction.

The novel was adapted into a 2008 award-winning film of the same name directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood starring Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, Sophie Okonedo, and Paul Bettany. 

***Plot***
The year is 1964, a time in the US history that marked a breakthrough for the civil rights movement. The place is racially-charged South Carolina where tensions between whites and blacks are simmering. 

14-year old Lily Owens witnesses her black maid, Rosaleen, experience horrific racist abuse for a trivial altercation. She impulsively breaks Rosaleen out of jail and flees her troubled childhood home to get away from her emotionally distant and often abusive father. 

Going only by an old and mystifying photograph belonging to her deceased mother, she lands on the doorstep of the Boatwright sisters in Tiburon, South Carolina. The three unmarried black sisters named after certain months of the year live in a pink house on a large bee farm and make a living selling honey. An inherited statue of a black Mary is at the crux of the sisters religious and spiritual beliefs. It stands as an eternal symbol of hope, strength and freedom for the oppressed. 

Lily is accepted an as apprentice beekeeper and Rosaleen as a housekeeper by the eccentric Boatwright trio. They temporarily move in with the sisters. Lily is anxious to uncover the secret of her mother’s history and connect the dots that will reveal if her intuition that originally brought her to the Boatwright family was right. 

Lily needs to come to terms with her past, overcome her regrets and learn how to forgive in order to find peace and start living again. 

My thoughts....
This is a tender story about the spiritual power of love and self-acceptance with the powerful symbolism of bees and the undercurrent of discrimination that fueled the South in the 60s. 

This estrogen-fuelled novel is well-written, emotionally charged, sprinkled with humour and insightful as well. The teenage angst has been captured masterfully. The racial tensions of the 60s that has been weaved into the story manage to capture some of the underlying prejudices and inequalities of that time. The science of bees is captivating and the analogies drawn to human life enhances the narrative. The symbolism of bees comes through in the form of patient communication, unwavering guidance and the strength of female kinship in creating a harmonious and productive community. The themes of motherhood, maternal figures, female friendships and to a smaller extent, feminine spirituality are central to the novel. 

The characters have been well-etched and they stand out in their own unique way. My favorite character is Lily who evolves from a lonely, tormented and confused teenager to one who is charming, perceptive and forgiving. Lily is an interesting narrator. She is searingly honest (sometimes to her own detriment) which makes her pre-adolescent voice seem real. It is a combination of her naivety, vulnerability and determination that endears her to the reader. Then there is the eldest of the Boatwright sisters, August, who is independent, empathetic and full of wisdom. She represents a shining beacon of light in the face of adversity and discrimination. 

The Secret life of Bees carries the message of female empowerment without overtly feminist tones. After reading the novel, I believe now, more than ever, in the power of women uplifting other women. 

Also, I have a newfound respect for the utterly fascinating creatures that are bees! 

“Someone who thinks death is the scariest thing doesn’t know a thing about life.”

“This was a great revelation—not that I was white but that it seemed like June might not want me here because of my skin color. I hadn’t known this was possible—to reject people for being white.”

“Most people don’t have any idea about all the complicated life going on inside a hive. Bees have a secret life we don’t know anything about.”

~The Secret Life of Bees

My rating for this novel is

Have you read The Secret Life of Bees? What did you think of it? Leave a comment to let me know. 

Cheers,

Megha