The Secret Life of Bees

By Sue Monk Kidd

"There is nothing perfect," August said from the doorway. "There is only life."

It is 1964, the year of the Civil Rights Act, in a small town, Sylvan, in South Carolina. Lily Owens is a fourteen year old white girl who lives on a peach farm with her father, whom she calls T. Ray because he does not deserve to be called dad, and her black nanny, Rosaleen. Her mother, Deborah, died amid mysterious circumstances when Lily was four years old, and Lily has spent much of her life longing for her mother.

Rosaleen watches Lyndon Johnson sign the Civil Rights Act on TV. Filled with a sense of determination she heads into town to register to vote, but when she encounters three of the town's worst racists, Rosaleen ends up in jail.

Lily’s father is short-tempered and mean-spirited and has always tried to suppress Lily's chance for a bright future by discouraging her desire to read and write. To make matters worse, he tells Lily that she accidentally killed her mother. When Rosaleen is thrown in jail, Lily sees an opportunity to not only save Roseleen but also to finally escape her own father. She seizes the moment and springs Rosaleen from jail and the two set out across South Carolina in search of a new life. Their destination is the town of Tiburon, which neither of them knows anything about. However, in a box of her mother's belongings there is a picture of a black Virgin Mary with the words "Tiburon, South Carolina" written on the back.

Once in Tiburon they are taken in by three black beekeeping sisters, May, June, and August, who worship the Black Madonna. It is here, surrounded by the strength of the Madonna, the hum of bees, and a circle of wise and colourful women, that Lily makes her passage to wholeness and a new life. As she learns things from her past, including the circumstances around the death of her mother at the age of four, she also learns some of life's most important lessons. On her journey of discovery, religious ideology is brought to the forefront as she come across the Daughters of Mary, a wailing wall, Catholicism intertwined with Paganism and also face to face with a Black Madonna.

At first sight, the story can seem very dismal but it is in fact a very uplifting book with Rosaleen attempting to register to vote, and the consequences of this leading Lily and Rosaleen to run away from home. This is the story of how they found love and acceptance, and how Lily finally discovers that she is not such a bad person after all. It is a story I enjoyed immensely reading.