Looking Back - The Secret Life of Bees

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Fiction

2002

Finished on February 11, 2002

Rating: 4.5/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Set in South Carolina during 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of a fourteen year old white girl, Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily’s fierce-hearted “stand-in mother,” Rosaleen, insults three racists in town, 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 finds refuge in their mesmerizing world of bees, honey, and the Black Madonna.

Lily starts a journey as much about her understanding of the world, as about the mystery surrounding her mother. The Secret Life of Bees is a major literary triumph about the search for love and belonging, a novel that possesses a rare wisdom about life and the power and divinity of the female spirit.

My Original Thoughts (2002):

Strong southern storytelling! One of those page-turners that you try to read slowly, prolonging the finale as long as possible. Has all the ingredients for a "woe-is-me" Oprah selection, but it's several notches above those depressing, worn-out stories of women down on their luck. Sure, there's a bit of that, but nobody's life is perfect and this first-time novelist has created a winner! I need to own this book so I can mark my favorite passages. Definitely worthy of a second (or third!) reading. Beautiful cover art, too. Humorous and poignant. I would love a sequel to this story.

My Current Thoughts:

I enjoyed this so well that I bought a hardcover copy for my keeper shelf. I've read it twice and have watched the movie, as well. Might be time for a third read. It's a winner!