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What are readers saying about Secret Life Of Bees A Novel?
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eva posted a review at 2011-05-07 07:05:55.
(Language: English)
 
It was ok. I mean nothing really stands out for me as memorable - language, description, storytelling, events. Its' just kinda there. It does tell a story of a young girl needing some female influence in her life and finding love in ways you wouldn't think would develop.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-10-20 03:33:50.
(Language: English)
Dette er en vakker bok om en ung jentes vei for å finne seg selv og en " familie". Den handler om en ung jente som bærer på en tung hemmelighet og hennes søken etter noe som kan fortelle henne om sin avdøde mors liv. Den beskriver fordommer, vennskap og ulike måter å leve livet på. En varm skildring som fanger deg inn og ikke slipper taket før siste side er lest.
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deidra posted a review at 2012-02-17 05:51:04.
(Language: English)
i loved every minute of it .i do not read a lot but this one held my attenion though the whole book
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Valeria posted a review at 2010-02-11 10:05:59.
(Language: English)
This was a wonderful book. Once I started, I had great difficulty prying myself out of it, even though I had many other responsibilities to attend. The author was able to create a fascinating world of mystery, love, family and tradition by breathing life into the characters of Lily, August, Deborah, June, May and Rosaleen. I fell in love with all those strong women who built a wonderful life for themselves despite all the obstacles their environment threw at them.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-02-25 04:07:29.
(Language: English)
I was put off reading this book for a long time by the last sentence of the blurb on the back of the book: "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". Apart from being utter rubbish you would think that publishers would have more sense than to put off half their potential readers. I found the book itself quite a readable effort by a first time author, but I never found it totally convincing. The protagonist is a young girl growing up in rural S Carolina, and no doubt I am too old and of the wrong gender and perhaps culture to empathise fully but I think it is more than that. I just got a feeling of inauthenticity throughout which kept me from being comfortable with the story. There is no doubt though, looking at the Amazon feedback that many people do love the book.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-07-08 11:38:27.
(Language: English)
This book is a new favorite of mine. It's a beatifully written story about a 14 year old girl whose mother was killed when she was four years old. She lives with her father whose feelings toward his daughter are complicated and less than loving. Her best friend and stand-in mother is their black house keeper Rosaleen. She runs away and ends up staying with three black sisters who keep bees. It's set in the 1960s just after the Civil Rights Act. It will make you feel happy and sad and sad and happy again.
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Lisa posted a review at 2012-01-30 07:43:19.
(Language: English)
Wonderful book. Definitely will add as a "keeper" for a reread later on.
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-07-22 08:26:46.
(Language: English)
Enjoyable.
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-09-10 01:14:38.
(Language: English)
This was a wonderful story of a girl who needed to find herself. It is well written and the characters are so colorful. This isn't typically the kind of book I read, but I really enjoyed it!
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-08-09 08:22:59.
(Language: English)
I read this book while I was going thru a difficult time last year. A book which started off with a morose note, soon developed into a strong story of trust, strength, morality, confidence and sisterhood. Set at a time when I was not even born, it helped me understand why Barrak Obama's Presidency is such a wonderous episode.... "I HAVE A DREAM...."-MARTIN L. KING PLS DO NOT JUDGE BY THE MOVIE...THERE WAS NO RAPE INVOLVED!!!!
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-07-17 04:03:17.
(Language: English)
This is a beautiful book - I was sad for the story to end. Sue Monk Kidd crafts a poignant story about society (Civil Rights) and the special relationships amongst women. I look forward to reading some of her other works. I wholeheartedly recommend this book - you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll want to know the type of woman that Lily Owens becomes.
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-10-07 05:50:22.
(Language: English)
it was sweet, not amazing.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-04-08 01:14:47.
(Language: English)
Setting: '64 in SC(yr of Civil Rights Act & intensifying racial unrest). Lily Owens, a 14 yr old, lonely,w a harsh, neglectful dad, longs for her mother who died mysteriously when she was 4. Her father tells her SHE accidentally killed her mother. Rosaleen, a black nanny has raised Lily. They escape from unjust circumstances; travel to Tiburon; go to home of 3 bee-keeping sisters led there by a picture Lily's mom had of a black Madonna w Tiburon on the back; Lily finds her way to healing, wholeness, & love fr a circle of wise,colorful women; & themes of conviction & forgiveness
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Mark posted a review at 2008-09-14 03:27:54.
(Language: English)
This is one of my favorite novels. In fact, my classes at Ohio Dominican University are finishing it this weekend. Sue Monk Kidd's novel tells the story of 14 year old Lily who runs away from home in search of her dead mother's story. After reaching a small town she feels certain her mother knew, Lily and a black woman fleeing jail after pouring tobacco juice over the shoes of a white man who had insulted her while she was going to register to vote in 1964 in the deep South, took residence with three sisters. With the help of these substitute mothers and a black Madonna masthead, Lily finds rescue, consolation and courage.I cannot recommend this novel enough. There is so much wisdom in this story of a girl's journey to a healthy life, one at peace with others and with herself. Set during the summer Lydon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law, this is also a novel about this country's longing for rescue.
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Susan posted a review at 2007-08-31 10:59:28.
(Language: English)
The Secret Life of Bees is a Southern novel in the tradition of To Kill a Mockingbird. It's the coming of age story of Lily Owens, a 14-year-old motherless white girl growing up on a peach farm in South Carolina with her antagonistic father and black nanny Rosaleen. The year is 1964 and the Civil Rights Act has just been passed, inspiring Lily's black neighbors but threatening some of Lily's white neighbors. Lily is an engaging narrator who is an aspiring writer (as so often is the case in first novels). She has a distinctly Southern voice without overburdening the reader with dialect and weird spelling. Lily's awakening comes when she accompanies Rosaleen, into their small town so Rosaleen can register to vote. Lily and Rosaleen (I hate reviews with spoilers) end up in a place that's almost magical - a bee farm with its own human queen. August Boatwright and her sisters, educated black women, own the farm and sell honey under the Black Madonna label. August has nurtured her own religion there on the farm with some other local black women. The focus of their faith is Black Mary, an old ship's figurehead that had been used as an object of worship by generations of slaves. Lily and Rosaleen are welcomed to the farm and each makes a place for herself there. This is a Book Club Book is both good and bad ways. It's an interesting well-written book about an underexplored time in America's recent past. American book clubs, usually mostly women, I suppose usually select books about women in America overcoming adversity and achieving growth and insight. This book fits neatly into that niche. It has the annoying book club guide in the back, which always strikes me as high-schoolish. I would recommend the reader enjoy this book on its merits rather than thinking too much about it. Once you start thinking too much the symbolism becomes thick and heavy-handed. My sister read this book on the beach, which I might not recommend, but it was a good change for me from genre fiction without making my brain work too hard. I look forward to reading the second book by Sue Monk Kidd and seeing how she develops as a writer.
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A Reader posted a review at 2012-01-30 07:49:30.
(Language: English)
Wonderful book. Definitely is a "keeper" for a later read again.
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-11-16 10:37:11.
(Language: English)
3.5 stars out of 5. An ugly duckling teenage girl in the Civil Rights era South flees her abusive father in an attempt to learn more of the mother she accidentally killed as a child. Her adventure leads her to the hot pink home of three beekeeping sisters: African American Catholics devoted (in an unusual way) to the Virgin Mary. While not a perfect book, it paints a beautiful picture of a house flowing with milk and honey, and proves a worthy read.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-01-03 11:43:15.
(Language: English)
This book is a wonderful, warm coming of age book about a young woman in the south and how she finds inner strength. Lily, the young woman, shaped her life around her first memory; one blurry devastating memory – the afternoon her mother was killed. Since then her stand-in-mother is the fierce yet loyal black woman Rosaleen. After some mishaps, Lily and Ros hit the road together and find solace in a home of three beekeeping sisters. This story is about their journey. This book contains a lot of symbolism and woman empowerment moments. Kidd gives her characters plenty of life and emotion and she weaves the racial issue into the story realistically and effectively. Black and/or white become an issue only to the people on the outside of this close knit group of women seeking to love and be loved. Her passages on the life of honey bees and the process of making candles and "putting up" honey are very descriptive, informative and made me hungry for honey and biscuits! A must read for all women!
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-11-19 02:48:39.
(Language: English)
I wasn't sure what to expect from this one...I went into it with the expectation of it being a girly novel, but then became so engrossed in its main character, Lily Owens. I've never read anything by Sue Monk Kidd before and I think she has an absolutely beautiful writing style. Her attention to small details makes it special and her words fill you up with a cozy feeling inside. This book is also great commentary on racial struggles during the Civil Rights movement.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-10-12 06:40:18.
(Language: English)
A very interesting read. Having run into some individuals with those prejudices, I could just imagine the reactions to perceived inappropriate behavior. I could also imagine how the women would overlook those prejudices to see the heart of the person. The ending was one of the outcomes I had anticipated so it did not come as a real surprise to me, but as I got to the last few chapters it became hard to put down.
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Emily posted a review at 2007-09-08 08:52:19.
(Language: English)
All right, so I'm clearly a geek that loves the whole world of women scenario. I'm sorry, but this was just a fantastic book. I give Kidd props for writing from the perspective of a young girl--few people do well that way. Here we have a girl in the 60s who runs away, with her housekeeper, from her abusive father. She hasn't had a mother in years, and takes the opportunity to find out more about the woman she doesn't remember but who means so much to her. This leads her, via a thing of honey, to the Sisters, a group of beekeepers who graciously take in Lily. Here, Lily is exposed to a world very much unlike the one her father gave her. Here, women are valued. In fact, there is this religious of the Black Madonna that is very girl-powery and beautiful. She, as a white girl, sees racism from a different angle. I especially enjoyed the stories of the various characters. Everyone is different, but not in an obnoxiously cliche way. It's an amazingly written coming-of-age story.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-14 06:09:17.
(Language: English)
I didn't really want to read this cuz I thought it was going to be a lame story full of "woman power" and yadda yadda, but my sister said it was pretty good..so I did. It definitely is about women and how they support each other, but it wasn't to the "gag-me" level that I feared. It was an easy-to-follow story and I actually liked it. It wasn't close to something I'd call a great book but it wasn't a bad read, and I did enjoy it. It was an interesting story, kept my attention throughout it and it had some good imagery. What makes this book is the characters, they are each unique and can make you laugh or feel sad with/at/for them. I'd recommend it for a quick read that is enjoyable, but I wouldn't say to go run out and get it right now.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-09 04:11:12.
(Language: English)
Set in South Carolina in 1964, in the midst of the civil rights movement, this story explores human relationships, racial tensions, and forgiveness of others and of oneself. The main character Lily, a 14-year-old white girl, struggles to remember and understand the events that happened the day that her mother died. During this emotional journey, Rosaleen, Lily's black "stand-in-mother," insults three racists white men as she attempts to register to vote. After discovering that Rosaleen will be killed and wanting to get away from her father, Lily decides to "spring" Rosaleen from the hospital where she is being held by the police. After freeing Rosaleen and running away to Tiburon, South Carolina Lily develops critical relationships that offer her true friendship and maternal love, while also challenging everything she thought was true. I enjoyed this book because it explores Lily's anger, prejudices, and shortcomings while also allowing the character to experience forgiveness, friendship, and love. I gave it three stars because some parts of the story where hard to believe. For example, Lily and Zach, a black young teen, are driving around town without encountering any problems. During a time where black men were being killed just for looking at a white women this is not a realistic scene. I also found the time line to be a bit off. The author gives the impression that many days have gone by, but then you find out its only been one day. This takes away from the overall story. I suggest readers borrow it from the library.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-06-02 06:35:18.
(Language: English)
Seven months after I cracked the cover of this New York Times best seller, I finished reading the last page. Essentially a novel about growing up, I found Sue Monk Kidd's book distant with little room for connectivity until the final chapter. The main character was not personable. The most redeeming element of the Bees is the honey sisters who live is a florescent pink house. August, May and June are ever alluring in their approach to life. Lastly, the book is sac religious replacing the Holy Spirit with a pagan idol. While Bees is not a total a waste of time, it is not worth the rave reviews received from New York Times and worth seven months of reading time.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-10-08 09:28:51.
(Language: English)
Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life is shaped by her blurred memory of the afternoon of her mother's accidental death. When Lily's black "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three racists in town, they escape to Tiburon, South Carolina, a town that holds the secret to Lily's mother's past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, is forced to confront her own dark past and learns what it means to be a family. Not one of my favorites, but a good read. I love the relationship that the girl has with the black women. I love the info about bees. Good historical fiction.
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