The Secret Life of Bees

Books | Fiction / Literary

4.2

(81.6K)

Sue Monk Kidd

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 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 sisters, 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.

Coming Of Age

Historical Fiction

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More Details:

Author

Sue Monk Kidd

Pages

352

Publisher

Penguin

Published Date

2003-01-28

ISBN

0142001740 9780142001745

Ratings

Google: 4

Community ReviewsSee all

"If The Help and Where the Crawdads Sing had a baby, this would be it. It's a cute book with a lot of character. "

M C

Mia Corkum

"So beautifully written. One of the themes of this coming-of-age book is chosen family, and I feel as though you can really see how beautiful it is for Lily to find a family in the Boatwright sisters. Has its really difficult moments, but overall this book hits you in the feels and makes for a great and cozy fall read. "

S S

Sara SoDeezy

"When I first picked up this book, I was confident I knew which direction it was going to go. I thought it would be heavy ok the Civil Rights movement, and there was a good amount of that, but the focus of the book was not that. The focus was on Lily Owen’s running away from home at 14 to discover who her mother was. I thought the author did a very good job of capturing the mood and emotions of a teenage girl. I enjoyed almost every character, especially August and her patience, and felt involved in the storyline. The ending was a little too perfect with sunshine and rainbows everywhere. It was a pleasant read. 3.5/5 "

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Olivia Denning

"I had to read this book throughout the summer and I actually enjoyed it. I felt so many different emotions while reading this book. I loved the plot and the ending. I was rather sad to find out it was not based on a true story though. But that's okay because it was actually a good book. "

Purple

"Read this in English class great story of like found family and very hesrtwarming"

Gizmo

"Easy read! "

K S

Kolika Simmons

"I loved this book and the young female protagonist so much. The storyline was heartwarming and heartbreaking, all in one book. Later, watching the movie, I thought it closely followed the book and the actors were well cast. I highly recommend both the book and the movie, if you’ve never read or seen them. "

M J

Marie J Ervin

"This is one of my favorite books I’ve ever read. The story is so touching :) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️"

K R

Kenzie Roberts

"302 pages "

S W

Sarah Womack

"3.75. "

C R

Changeling Reader (Adrian)

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