Norma Castanon
A.P. English 3
American Novel Project: The Secret Life of Bees
An American Novel and Best-Seller, The Secret Life of Bees by author Sue Monk Kidd, is a compelling coming-of-age story about discovering love and a home in the most unexpected of places. Sue Monk Kidd’s book is one that girlfriends, sisters, mothers and daughters all alike will enjoy reading.
Sue Monk Kidd, born and raised in Sylvester, Georgia, is a writer best known for her first novel, The Secret Life of Bees. Kidd graduated from TCU and took off when a personal essay she had written was published in Guideposts. During her thirties, she began to experience an intellectual and spiritual peak. Her first books were spiritual memoirs describing her experiences with Christianity. She became deeply influenced by the work of monk, Thomas Merton and psychiatrist, C.G. Jung, which would impact her writing in the years to come.
Her story of 14 year-old Lily Owens, is set in the 1960’s in a small town of South Carolina, where Lily’s life is shaped by the blurred memory of her late mother’s death. In order to escape the loneliness those memories bring and most of all, her unyielding, harsh father, Lily packs her bag and leaves home with Rosaleen, her caretaker and only friend. There uncharted path leads them to an even smaller South Carolina town that holds secrets Lily could have never imagined or expected. Taken in by the pleasant and self-governing Boatwright sisters, Lily at last finds comfort and support in their spiritual
abode, while being spun into their mesmerizing world of bees, honey and the Black Madonna.
Lily Melissa Owens takes the lead in The Secret Life of Bees. Her character plays the role of a lost, confused adolescent girl who desperately needs answers and relief from a past she can’t let go of. T-Ray is Lily’s poor excuse of a father, who eventually comes to his own realization and rids himself of something that had had a tight hold of his heart. Lily’s “stand-in mother”, Rosaleen, a big, fierce-hearted, black woman, serves as Lily’s friend and companion throughout all of their crazy escapades together. August Boatwright is the oldest of the Boatwright sisters, the head of the household and a skilled beekeeper. She believes in fate and is able to unscramble some of Lily’s unanswered questions as she introduces Lily to the enormous world of beekeeping. June and May Boatwright are the other Boatwright sisters who have differencing struggles that each teach Lily something new about life. Zach is Lily’s friend and the boy that stands by her side, even when knowing all about her troubled past and seeing her fanatical present. Maternal loss, guilt and forgiveness intertwine these characters in a story that leads Lily to the single thing her heart longs for most.
Sue Monk Kidd wraps a coming-of-age tale around a search for one's mother, sets it into the racially-charged town during the civil rights movement and finishes it off with a dose of feminine spirituality. Kidd wrote an inspirational feminist story with strong female characters.
The Secret Life of Bees is a remarkable story about the divine power of women and the transforming power of love.
A.P. English 3
American Novel Project: The Secret Life of Bees
An American Novel and Best-Seller, The Secret Life of Bees by author Sue Monk Kidd, is a compelling coming-of-age story about discovering love and a home in the most unexpected of places. Sue Monk Kidd’s book is one that girlfriends, sisters, mothers and daughters all alike will enjoy reading.
Sue Monk Kidd, born and raised in Sylvester, Georgia, is a writer best known for her first novel, The Secret Life of Bees. Kidd graduated from TCU and took off when a personal essay she had written was published in Guideposts. During her thirties, she began to experience an intellectual and spiritual peak. Her first books were spiritual memoirs describing her experiences with Christianity. She became deeply influenced by the work of monk, Thomas Merton and psychiatrist, C.G. Jung, which would impact her writing in the years to come.
Her story of 14 year-old Lily Owens, is set in the 1960’s in a small town of South Carolina, where Lily’s life is shaped by the blurred memory of her late mother’s death. In order to escape the loneliness those memories bring and most of all, her unyielding, harsh father, Lily packs her bag and leaves home with Rosaleen, her caretaker and only friend. There uncharted path leads them to an even smaller South Carolina town that holds secrets Lily could have never imagined or expected. Taken in by the pleasant and self-governing Boatwright sisters, Lily at last finds comfort and support in their spiritual
abode, while being spun into their mesmerizing world of bees, honey and the Black Madonna.
Lily Melissa Owens takes the lead in The Secret Life of Bees. Her character plays the role of a lost, confused adolescent girl who desperately needs answers and relief from a past she can’t let go of. T-Ray is Lily’s poor excuse of a father, who eventually comes to his own realization and rids himself of something that had had a tight hold of his heart. Lily’s “stand-in mother”, Rosaleen, a big, fierce-hearted, black woman, serves as Lily’s friend and companion throughout all of their crazy escapades together. August Boatwright is the oldest of the Boatwright sisters, the head of the household and a skilled beekeeper. She believes in fate and is able to unscramble some of Lily’s unanswered questions as she introduces Lily to the enormous world of beekeeping. June and May Boatwright are the other Boatwright sisters who have differencing struggles that each teach Lily something new about life. Zach is Lily’s friend and the boy that stands by her side, even when knowing all about her troubled past and seeing her fanatical present. Maternal loss, guilt and forgiveness intertwine these characters in a story that leads Lily to the single thing her heart longs for most.
Sue Monk Kidd wraps a coming-of-age tale around a search for one's mother, sets it into the racially-charged town during the civil rights movement and finishes it off with a dose of feminine spirituality. Kidd wrote an inspirational feminist story with strong female characters.
The Secret Life of Bees is a remarkable story about the divine power of women and the transforming power of love.