Secret Life of Bees

Rating:
Summary: A banquet for the soul!
Review: Excellent! Fans of Sue Monk Kidd will not be disappointed in this, her first novel. It is a rich, flavorful, and totally satisfying banquet for the soul. I want to tell everyone I know to stop what they are doing and read this book; put it ahead of everything else they are doing. This book speaks to many levels of your being.

Rating:
Summary: the Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Review: This is the best novel I've read in a long, long time!! I LOVE it! I want all my friends and family to read this book. Kidd's writing flows; her easy style is deceptive, like still quiet water hiding great depth. Treat yourself to enjoyment and read this wonderful book!

Rating:
Summary: Parallel Universes of "Bees" and "Geography of Women"
Review: I marvel at this coming-of-age genre that is such a fertile crescent to so many writers with a southern bent. Fannie Flagg's "Fried Green Tomatoes" seems to have revivified a line of story-telling that comes out of Carson McCullers' "Member of the Wedding" and travels into territory that Hollywood eventually loves to film. Sue Monk Kidd taps the genre with aplomb and grace of character and style. The book has "voice" as warm and engaging as another novel in this specific genre, "The Geography of Women," of which Kidd reminded me considerably in the two novels' fast plots, their young white teenage heroines (Lily and Laydia) involved with women of color (Rosaleen and Jessarose) and living with alternative families (May, June, and August in "Bees" and Lulabelle Harms in "Geography"). One day a TV network will be screening all these coming-of-age tales back to back. Until then, the written word will more than do--particularly with a talent such as Kidd exhibits. Great entertainment. Continues the genre beautifully.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Debut!
Review: This is an outstanding debut by Sue Monk Kidd. The charectors live on long after the book is closed. A must read!

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Wonderful
Review: First of all, I wish I could give "The Secret Life of Bees" more than five stars, because it deserves a thousand. Sue Monk Kidd has created a profound novel about love, coming of age, and sisterhood. She's wonderful with words and sentence flow - no matter what she's writing about, you always want to keep turning the pages. The book takes place in the South during the Civil War. The narrator, Lily Owens, is a fourteen-year-old girl who lost her mother when she was young. She lives on a peach farm with her father, who mistreats her. Lily longs for motherly love, but all she has is Rosaleen, her black stand-in mother. When Lily and Rosaleen escape to Tiburon, a town that Lily knows is somehow connected to her mother, they are taken in by three black sisters, who will give them more than just love.
All the characters in this book are described so vividly that you'll miss them when you finish reading. The story unfolds beautifully, while still keeping you on the edge of your seat. It may not grab your attention from the bookshelf, but every female on this earth should read it. Bravo, Ms. Kidd!

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous book; heartwarming and thought provoking
Review: I absoluty loved this story. I thought the main character Lily was precocious and endearing.I felt her pain while living with her abusive father T.Ray. The only bright light at home is her "housekeeper", Rosealeen. She is an African American woman doing her best to take care of Lily and soften the blow of her father's wrath. The book includes the mystery of Lily's mother's death whioch leads her on a wonderful journey. A series of events that includes Rosealeen spitting tocacco on a white man's shoes causes the pair to run away to a different town where they meet three remarkable African American women who change both their lives. May, August, and June are the women. These women raise bees and make honey. This sounds dull but it turns into an adventure for Lily. They all struggle together to find theri own identities. The process allows them to learn things about themselves and each other that are remarkable and life changing. I read a review by a customer who said that this book was not beleivable. There are certain events that take place that are emotional and seem preventable. I am sure that the writer of this book did her research. She grew up during the time of sixties racial strife. I certainly think she has a good grasp of life in the south during this time. This holds true particularly where she describes the struggles between African Americans and whites. I am sure that even then there were strong African American women who broke the rules all the time regardless of the consquences. Their actions may have seemed stupid or just plain dangerous. I call it courageous. It sure started the change towards a better life and rights for the African American. Every change starts with one small voice and/or action.

Rating:
Summary: cute read
Review: Interesting book, good for a quick enjoyable read. Don't expect to be blown away.

Rating:
Summary: Quick, satisfying read
Review: Read the story of Lily, a young girl trapped in the difficult situation of having a rough father and no mother in the turbulant Civil Rights era. When Lily's sole friend and housekeeper gets in trouble as she demostrates her newfound right to vote, she decides to run away and find a new life in Tiburon, South Carolina where she suspects she will find out more about her deceased mother.

The characters are somewhat different than convention but nonetheless interesting and endearing, and Lily's coming of age and the place in the world that she finally finds for herself is a quick, satisfying read.

Rating:
Summary: Do You See Color?
Review: Sue Monk Kidd is a highly respected author who has successfully illustrated her views to her readers.She clearly attempts to make a powerful statement about how a person's surroundings cannot define their beliefs. Here is a young girl, barely an adolescent, who is surrounded by prejudice and hatred, yet essentially does not see color. Lily discounts the opinions of those who place race and ethnicity as a priority in deciding who a person is. She, instead, believes that who you are lies within and cannot be defined by the color of your skin.
This, in itself, is a remarkable feat considering that I, in this day and age, cannot honestly say that I know anyone who does not see color. It's as simple as seeing someone on the street and acknowledging them as "a black man" or a "white woman". We all acknowledge race, ethnicity, and gender and associate it with stereotypes which we have been programmed to believe. Considering how far we have come in terms of technological and scientific advances since the time that this novel was written in 1964, this fact is unfortunate. We have, as a people, yet to conquer one of the few barriers which still stand. Sue Monk Kidd succeeds in reminding us that the problem and solution lie within ourselves.
Sue Monk Kidd accomplished her goal in producing a genuinely "good piece of literature". She made me put down her book and question not only the morality of society's standards, but also my own beliefs. She left me with the same question that I will leave with you: Do you see color?


Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: An amazing reading experience. "Secret Life of Bees" is one of the best books in the last 5 years. A joy to read.