Review: "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd

I’ve realized several things about myself as a reader these past few months. Most notably… I’m kind of a book snob. It’s not something I’m necessarily proud to admit, but it is true. I usually come at a book very cynically. I read the story, but I’m also critiquing the author the entire time. A lot of the books that I have read recently have been kind of a let-down in my opinion. So many stories sound so much the same, and so many characters are, characteristically, flat. So, when I come across a story that allows me to be both surprised and refreshed as a reader, I usually end up carrying it with me for a while. The only two books that I’ve read this year that fall into that category have been “Lisey’s Story” by Stephen King, and this book, “The Secret Life of Bees” by Sue Monk Kidd. And when it comes to writing stories about children or teenagers, I’m especially doubtful about the writer’s ability to break out of the box.


When I started to read this book I did roll my eyes at the all too familiar cliché: A 14 year old girl struggling to find the hidden mysteries surrounding her mother’s death and, of course, her own self worth. But I’d like to say that this book completely surprised me. Not only was the story powerful, the characters felt like real people to me. They were round, full and interacted with life in a realistic but powerful way.

The story takes place in South Carolina in 1964, just after President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act, and is about a white girl, Lily Owens. After growing up under the tyranny of her father “T.Ray”, and experiencing racism first hand she and her black nanny Rosalee flee home in search of more information about Lily’s mother. Drawn by one clue, she ends up in the home of three black beekeeping sisters who worship a statue of a black Madonna. There she spends the rest of the story, an apprentice beekeeper, but also an apprentice at living life.

Aside from the depth of the characters, especially the eccentric sisters, and the author’s ability to deal with that period’s issues of racism and segregation, I was completely impressed by the beauty of the language used. Here is an example: “According to August, if you’ve never seen a cluster of beehives first thing in the morning, you’ve missed the eighth wonder of the world. Picture these white boxes tucked under pine trees. The sun will slant through the branches, shining in the sprinkles of dew drying on the lids. There will be a few hundred bees doing laps around the hive boxes, just warming up, but mostly taking their bathroom break, as bees are so clean they will not soil the inside of their hives. From a distance it will look like a big painting you might see in a museum, but museums can’t capture the sound. Fifty feet away you will hear it, a humming that sounds like it came from another planet. At thirty feet your skin will start to vibrate. The hair will lift on your neck. Your head will say, ‘don’t go any further’, but your heart will send you straight into the hum, where you will be swallowed by it. You will stand there and think, ‘I am in the center of the universe, where everything is sung to life’.” I love it!

Now, there are of course some things you might have issue with. Aside from Lily’s somewhat annoying and many moments of “eyes closed, arms raised, thoughtful reflection”, the book is very feminist, and a large portion of it is focused on the idea of the “sacred feminine”. It wasn’t exactly something I could relate to, but was able to appreciate. There also is a lot of worship of Mary and, if you insert Jesus, you’d have it just about right :). I thought the spiritual ideals in this book extremely empowering in overcoming our self-doubt, feelings of worthlessness and inability to forgive. I was impressed.

All in all, it is well worth reading. In fact, I’m going to buy it. If only for the sake of reading something beautiful, I recommend it. But, coming from a crappy family life myself it also reminds me to keep on forgiving, and to find love in the world where I can, even if the place I find it is unexpected. I give it a 3 and a half stars out of 4 on the Bud scale.
Happy reading!