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

I was wondering one of my favorite places, Half Priced Books, on rainy afternoon browsing for nothing in particular at all when I came across a little paper back of The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.

I vaguely recalled this book as a movie I had never seen and it was only $2 so I added it to my stack.

It sat in my office for a few months until I finally picked it up.

I try very hard not to read the back cover of a book before I dive in so I really wasn’t sure what I was getting into. And to be honest I had thought that movie I had never saw was about a Spelling Bee.

I was wrong about the movie and extremely pleased with the book.

This is the story of Lily Owens. Teenaged white girl in 1964 South Carolina just as the Civil Rights Movement is underway and Blacks are given the right to vote.

Lily is being raised by her Peach Farm owning, angry, abusive father and a black woman, Rosaleen, who had been pulled out of the Peach Fields years ago after Lily’s mother was killed.

After a run in with a local group of white men Lily and Rosaleen found themselves in Jail.

Lily’s hatred of her father, fear for Rosaleen’s life, and her need to know how her mother really died drove Lily and Rosaleen to run away from home seeking freedom from both the police and her father.

This is a true coming of age story that spans a summer in a very hot and racially volatile part of the country. Stories of this era fascinate me with no end.

To think. My parents were pre-teens during this time.

Less than 50 years ago, this was our country. I look at how far we have come and I am given hope for the equal rights battle that is being fought right now.

I applaud Monk Kidd for sharing this story in a moving, emotional, well written way.

After finishing this book I learned that The Secret Life of Bees actually was made into a movie. A movie that is not about a Spelling Bee. The book has also spelt more than 100 week on the NY Best Seller List.

I am glad I picked up this book. It is one of my all-time favorites and though I do not typically read a book more than once, I think I will make an exception.