The Secret Life of Bees by: Sue Monk Kidd

Reviewed by: Rachel Chatfield

The book The Secret Life of Bees, is set in the deep South at the beginning of the Civil Right Act in 1964. I have never been in the deep south, but the author, Sue Monk Kidd, description made me feel as if I was with all the different characters though their many different journeys to self discovery. This book is told though the eyes of the main character and protagonist, Lily, a 14-year-old white girl who lives in South Carolina.
There are many different characters in this book who have very different sides to them. Lily lives in her house on a peach farm with mean, stubborn father T. Ray and her "stand in mother" Rosaleen. Rosaleen is an African-American nanny and housekeeper who works for T. Ray and Lily who is very headstrong and very brave. She has worked for T. Ray and Lily ever since Lily was a little girl, and was the closest thing to a mother for her.

The most important characters in this book, in my opinion are the Boatwirght sisters; may, June and August, they live in the "Pink House" and run a honey business call The Black Madonna Honey. Lily meets the sisters when she run away from home with Rosaleen, to learn more about her mother who was killed when she was very young. Lily and Rosaleen end up staying with three sister and when staying with them, she learns more then she could have ever hoped for. Because the Boatwright sister are African-American, trouble started happening in the town. Lily soon gets caught up with the Boatwright sister and their world, but has she stayed too long? Will he dark past, ruin her chance for a bright future? To find out, you must read The Secret Life of Bees.

There are many different themes when it comes to The Secret Life of Bees. I think that the main theme is love. Lily has always been searching for love and approval, and it take the Boatwright sisters to show her what being loved is Another big theme in the book is race, and that it should not matter. One of the biggest reason why LIly left her home with Rosaleen was because of the many people in her town that were racist against Rosaleen. The Boatwright sisters, in the book prove to Lily and everyone that they are non less or better then any white person.

I thought that this was an okay book, overall I would give it a 3 out of 5. It was slow at the beginning, and it never seemed to really get going. There were some part of the book that were really good, but others seemed slow an not needed. I also think that the ending could have been better, and a little longer. One thing that I really liked about this book was the was it was written. The way Sue Monk Kidd described the different settings, and smell made you really feel like you were right there with Lily and the different characters seeing what they saw, and smelling what they smelled.

I would recommend this book to girls only because it sometimes deal with girl things, and I think that they would enjoy this book better then boys would. I also would recommend this book to girls ages 13 and up, because it has some harsh language and problems. But I think that many girls would enjoy this book, it has many good themes and lessons.