| The Secret Life of Bees |  | Author: Sue Monk Kidd
Publisher: Headline Review
Category: Book
List Price: $16.50
Buy New: $7.23
You Save: $9.27 (56%)
New (14) Used (15) from $4.94
Rating:  1466 reviews
Sales Rank: 1727511
Media: Paperback
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 1.2
ISBN: 0747266832
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780747266839
ASIN: 0747266832
Publication Date: March 3, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: some shelf wear; no crease in spine 01177/10097:F4
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
In Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees, 14-year-old Lily Owen, neglected by her father and isolated on their South Carolina peach farm, spends hours imagining a blissful infancy when she was loved and nurtured by her mother, Deborah, whom she barely remembers. These consoling fantasies are her heart's answer to the family story that as a child, in unclear circumstances, Lily accidentally shot and killed her mother. All Lily has left of Deborah is a strange image of a Black Madonna, with the words "Tiburon, South Carolina" scrawled on the back. The search for a mother, and the need to mother oneself, are crucial elements in this well-written coming-of-age story set in the early 1960s against a background of racial violence and unrest. When Lily's beloved nanny, Rosaleen, manages to insult a group of angry white men on her way to register to vote and has to skip town, Lily takes the opportunity to go with her, fleeing to the only place she can think of--Tiburon, South Carolina--determined to find out more about her dead mother. Although the plot threads are too neatly trimmed, The Secret Life of Bees is a carefully crafted novel with an inspired depiction of character. The legend of the Black Madonna and the brave, kind, peculiar women who perpetuate Lily's story dominate the second half of the book, placing Kidd's debut novel squarely in the honored tradition of the Southern Gothic. --Regina Marler
Product Description
Lily has grown up believing she accidentally killed her mother when she was four. She not only has her own memory of holding the gun, but her father's account of the event. Now fourteen, she yeams for her mother, and for forgiveness. Living on a peach farm in South Carolina with her father, she has only one friend: Rosaleen, a black servant whose sharp exterior hides a tender heart. South Carolina in the sixties is a place where segregation is still considered a cause worth fighting for. When racial tension explodes one summer afternoon, and Rosaleen is arrested and beaten, Lily is compelled to act. Fugitives from justice and from Lily's harsh and unyielding father, they follow a trail left by the woman who died ten years before. Finding sanctuary in the home of three beekeeping sisters, Lily starts a journey as much about her understanding of the world, as about the mystery surrounding her mother.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 1461 more reviews...
 Bees will have you buzzing..... January 7, 2009
I was raised in the South - white - and find this a fascinating concept. Enjoyed the book - our book club read it. Warm but not syrupy. Uplifting. Has some tension that ends satisfactorily. Interesting tid-bits about bees also. Find I keep writing the next book in the series in my mind. Guess I don't want it to end.
 The Secret Life of Boring January 5, 2009
This book had a very bad ending to it. The author should have had a different outcome. Would not advise anyone to waste their time on this book.
Lunda Sexton Knoxville TN
Amazing I Loved It January 4, 2009
I couldnt put this book down. I wanted to see the movie but I wanted to read the book first now I cant wait to see the movie. It is a book that warms the heart . Great JOB I cant wait for a sequel.
Very rewarding book to read December 28, 2008
I enjoyed this book very much and in many situations it hit home with me. It was funny, sad and a learning experience. It will make you laugh, cry and think about what you have gone through and what it was like in the 60's.
i thought this book wuz great December 27, 2008
sue monk kidd did a fabulous piece of work. i instantly became connected with all the characters the pain and hope lily has is so mature for her age. even though i really wanted her to tell the truth earlier and this could not really happen the plot is perfect. i adored the stories of black mary and all the love@the boatwrights give to lily and rosalene. she tells the story with such couragesnous it is a must read. great@ for women or girls preteen and up.
|
|
|
|
