The Secret Life of Bees

Rating:
Summary: Horrified!
Review: I was simply horrified after reading this. It is a complete rip off of another novel about southern white/black little girl with bad familial situation. Read "Ellen Foster" by Kaye Gibbons. It is exquisite, and obscenely better than "The Secret Life of Bees".

Rating:
Summary: Sweet story
Review: Delightful and endearing tale of growing up and bonding. Beautiful fictional work that reads easy and keeps you interested and smiling about all the characters. A great story of strong feminine unity. This book is not exactly about historical fact so if that's your desire look elsewhere. For those who want to enjoy a truly heart-warming book, this one's a winner!

Rating:
Summary: Remarkable
Review: A breathtaking first novel. An imaginary place only the real world could hold. The beautiful metaphors bring the reality of Kidd's fiction to the imaginary. A remarkable coming of age novel that any woman of any age would enjoy. The Secret LIfe of Bee's should be no secret to any reader, they should know that book cover to cover in all of its vividness. After reading this novel bees will no longer be the menace they once were. They will form a new image of tranquility and life. Just like this book breaths life into anyone who picks it up.

Rating:
Summary: Adored it
Review: I really adored this book. I love all the metaphors written in the work. It took me hook, line and sinker. I followed the story and lived in their shoes for awhile. I smiled, I laughed, I grew sad - everything that a nice easy read should be.

Rating:
Summary: Makes You Feel Good
Review: The Secret Life of Bees is one of the best books I have read in recent months. What impresses most is the sense of uplifting spirit. Yes there is turmoil and dramatic action, but in the end you are left with a sense of uplifting spirit. That can be important. I loved The Da Vinci Code and My Fractured Life, but neither one were huge pick-me-ups. While excellent books, they didn't leave me with that sense of uplifting spirit that Secret Life of Bees does or the feeling good sense that The Five People You Meet in Heaven does. People can praise The Da Vinci Code, My Fractured Life, Middlesex, and other books for literary initiative or crossing genres or other terms that are probably over my head and there is nothing wrong with that. They are great books. But I think The Secret Life of Bees is one of the best books I have read for other reasons - because it made me feel good - and I think that is what counts sometimes. It's okay to read a little of both types of books - some books for literary value and others to feel good.

Rating:
Summary: Bee-havior
Review: This is a very interesting story about a young girl facing some very difficult truths, while learning about the behavior patterns and work of bees. A great adventure for anyone who loves to be sucked into someone else's world.

Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Madame queen and noble bees...
Review: This book was exactly what I thought it would be: Difficult, but rewarding, emotionally. However, unlike other books of that ilk, this story sucked me in immediately. Usually, it takes me a chapter or two to really get into a serious novel, but I found Lily's story compelling right from the start. I'm very much drawn to stories about parent/child relationships and the effects that relationship has on a person as they grow up, and this story has them in spades. In short, it's a fascinating ride, and one that ends very well despite all the bumps and curves on the way.

I was a trifle repulsed by the crude and vulgar language I found towards the beginning of the novel, but since it serves to make the story more believable (as it reflects the environment), it doesn't lessen the enjoyment or impact of the overall story. I thought I would mention it in case that's a deterring factor for anyone and to let them know, it doesn't last.

P.S. About bees: I have had a thing for bees ever since reading Elizabeth Goudge's "Linnets and Valerians", in which bees play an important role. The bees in this book serve as more of a metaphor, which I found extremely interesting. If you have any kind of apiast tendencies, check this book out!

Rating:
Summary: A Story that will Touch Your Heart
Review: It's 1964 and Lily Owen is almost fourteen years old. She lives on a South Carolina peach farm with her violent and abusive father, who punishes her horribly if he thinks she's been bad, which is often. If she tries, she can kind of remember that horrible day ten years earlier when her mother died. Her mother had been putting clothes in a suitcase, her father had been there, their had been a gun, it had gone off.

Lily has a few of her mother's things buried in a box in the orchard, so her father can't find them, a pair of her mother's gloves and a picture of a wooden black Madonna, a black Virgin Mary, with the words "Tiburon, S.C." written on the back. Sometimes she digs up the box and contemplates her treasures.

Her only friend is Rosaleen, a black lady who used to work in the orchard, but who had been called to the house to take care of Lily after her mother had passed away. Rosaleen is a proud woman and Lily has bonded with her, so when on the fourth of July Rosaleen decides to exercise her new right and register to vote, Lily accompanies her to town. However, on the way they meet three harassing racists and Rosaleen, who doesn't suffer insults easily, pours snuff juice on their shoes. The racist bullies attack her and, as it was in the South back then, it is Rosaleen who is arrested.

Then Lily has an epiphany-like moment and decides she has to help Rosaleen escape from jail and she has to escape from her horrible father as well. She believes they have to go to Tiburon, the place written on the back of her mother's photo of the black Madonna. So she liberates Rosaleen from the hospital, where she was being held, and they go there, where they meet three black beekeeping sisters, May, June and August, who make and sell Black Madonna honey. The calendar sisters take them in.

The beekeeping sisters practice a unique kind of faith centered around the Virgin Mary that might seem odd to many church going folk, but Lily grows spiritually with the Daughters of Mary, who offer her so much, that she finally learns how to love.

This wonderful story is a sentimental coming of age novel set against the backdrop of the civil rights movement in the 60s. But it's more than just that, "The Secret Life of Bees," is a book you can take to your heart. It's a story you'll never forget and it has a few little lessons in it that are good for us all.

Sophie Cacique Gaul

Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Book, So Far...
Review: This book was wonderful! The way Sue Monk Kidd talks about the power within all of us to nurture ourselves, care for ourselves and become the women we want to be is amazing and so true - especially for those of us who grew up in challenging households without our mothers. It gives us back the power to believe in ourselves and our own spirits. I would recommend this book to anyone dealing with self and "Mom" issues.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: The Secret life of Bees might have a somewhat typical topic, but metaphors and great writing make it great. I really think anyone should read this book. Lily is a great character and her search for a mother figure keeps you reading.