The multi-million bestselling novel about a young girl’s journey towards healing and the transforming power of love, from the award-winning author of The Invention of Wings and The Book of Longings 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 Lily’s … mother was killed. When Lily’s fierce-hearted black “stand-in mother,” Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina–a town that holds the secret to her mother’s past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sister, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna. This is a remarkable novel about divine female power, a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.
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Beautiful, female driven, heart breaking story of love that defies social norms. One of my all time favorite books.
Read this book years ago & some of the images are still so clear -the blue bedroom, the creek. Well worth your time!
A wonderful book I’d recommend to anyone.
Loved this book.
I loved this book!!! Great read!
One of my all time favorites.
This kind of storytelling, character building, makes it a timeless classic.
Very interesting about life in a beehive. Different bees assumes characteristic of human counterparts and their personalities. Informative and intresting reading.
This book will never get old. Don’t see the movie but if you did you owe it to yourself to read the book. It is beautifully written.
A deeply spiritual, extremely well-written book that I loved, learned from and related to on so many levels.
Kidd’s message has never been more important.
There is an epidemic of loneliness and anxiety in America today. Who ever heard of an epidemic being something other than an illness? Still, research shows it’s true. And Kidd’s shining a light on the beauty of sisterhood was such a great reminder of how to overcome that. Because feeling “heard” helps us heal. Encourages us to manifest the destiny we crave.
It was brilliant how the author brought the “mother” into her story, initially clothed in the Virgin Mary. How she came in the backdoor with her message instead of a lecture. That being, how pushing down fear and hurt is the surest way to have them fester into a lifetime of bitterness. And how she provided directions for overcoming. Showed how the “mother” resides in all of us, and if you search for her, you step into your power.
All of us can reach for brave and become a “New and Better Self.” The only way to fail to give up.
Gloria Squitiro: A first lady of Kanas City and author of May Cause Drowsiness and Blurred Vision: The Side Effects of Bravery—YOU, Too! can OVERCOME ANXIETY and live a bigger more carefree life—Become a New and Better You!
#YayWomenWriters!
Great story
Such an incredible book!
I truly loved this book – I seldom keep books I have read (I prefer to share) but this one stays at home!
I learned a lot about bees. Also a good story.
A moving and powerful story
I read this book when I was 13 and have reread it probably 3 more times. I love the story!
I’ve read it at least twice and saw the movie a few times. One of my favorites.
Loved it; that’s why I kept it rather than giving it away. It’s a read-over-and-over-again book.
At the time I read this book I remember thinking it was one of the most enjoyable, uplifting books I had read in some time. I loved it and would highly recommend it.
I adore Sue Monk Kidd’s writing and absolutely loved this novel! Lush descriptions of the South and a wonderful coming-of-age tale of Lily and her “stand-in mother” Rosaleen as they struggle to find a home of their own.