Rating: 
Summary: Fine writing, realistic story
Review: The Secret Life of Bees is one of the most satisfying books I have ever read. And I found it realistic, reflecting a region, the South, and a time, the mid-1960s, with fine accuracy. I was surprised at some of the previous customer reviews, especially those people who said they could not believe the characters or actions. What planet were these people living on, if they were indeed around at that time? I was a senior in college during this year, 1964, and I know by fact of experience that the actions portrayed in this book are dead-on. Some reviewers here questioned the actions of the young black men in the book, such as throwing a bottle at a white man. Well, I saw an angry black teenager knock an elderly white woman off the sidewalk and into the street. I also was alone in a laundromat late at night when a black teenager ran in begging for my help because he was being abused by three drunken white men, who came in and roughed him up in front of me before he was able to escape. Therefore, I do not doubt any events portrayed in this book. As for the characters, while I was growing up in South Georgia during the 40s and 50s, I knew African-American women much like the ones portrayed here. I have no doubt that many of them would have been as willing as August and May to help a young white girl in need. And I have no doubt some would have reacted to her the way June did at first, with misgivings. I certainly knew a few T.Rays along the way. I found all the characters to be legitimate and realistic. Some reviewers questioned the worship use of a Black Madonna, not taking into account the rich diversity of religious experience in Southern cultures. A major emphasis of the book is finding spiritual strength wherever you can, whether through a makeshift wailing wall, or the converted masthead of a sailing ship.
But the book is mainly about the needs and strengths of sisterhood, and about mothers and daughters, and I put it in the same category with Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and Steel Magnolias. (Yes, this story is tailor-made for movie time.) Sue Monk Kidd's writing is fabulous, perfectly evoking even the slightest nuances of time and place, and dripping with the essence of both honey and grits - though daddy T.Ray does have a unique use for the latter. T.Ray is the sort of man whose only kindness is for his bird dog, and when our fourteen-year-old heroine tells us, "I've seen Snout pee on T.Ray's boot and it not get a rise out of him," we know this is a girl who seriously needs to find a mother. Which she does, in a remarkable way.
Rating:
Summary: A Little Gem
Review: When I started The Secret Life of Bees I hadn't realized that the storyline was of a white, southern 14-year-old girl who runs away from an abusive father, takes solace amongst a group of black women and, in doing so, discovers both her past and her salvation. I likely would not have read the book if I had known this. But fortunately I didn't and launched into chapter one. I quickly devoured the book and, to my surprise, found that I thoroughly enjoyed it. To those criticisms that The Secret Life of Bees is overly sentimental, that the characters are one-dimensional or that the race relations portrayed are skewed I can only state that I did not find that to be the case nor did I find that to be a problem. I doubt that author Sue Monk Kidd intended to write novel about the civil rights movement in the 60's or about the complex nature of black/white relationships in the South. This is simply a wonderful story told within the context of those times. Sometimes simple is better. And The Secret Life of Bees is simply one of those better novels.
Rating: 
Summary: Not the Sue Monk Kidd I remember...
Review: I remember Sue Monk Kidd from her many writings in Guideposts magazine and looked forward to reading this book. For those of you looking for that woman, BEWARE! This is not the same Sue Monk Kidd. Although the book tells a story that keeps you engaged, and the writing is descriptive, it is not a book I would recommend. The use of four letter words turned me off and the budding interracial relationship between Lily and Zach stereotypical. Also, I'm not sure what religion Sue was trying to teach us (god is: woman, mother earth, ourselves) but as a christian, that certainly goes against everything I believe. I had a difficult time believing Rosaleen would spit snuff on a white man's shoe, or Jackson would throw a bottle at a white man's head - unprovoked; but I have never lived in the south and am not knowledgeable about race relations at that time. It was interesting reading about bee behavior and I think SMK did a good job of bringing the characters to life. I just wish I had known BEFORE I read the book that SMK is not the writer I remember.
Rating:
Summary: Prose and Conviction United
Review: Written with the Art of Prose displayed by Yann Martel in his stunning tale of hope "Life of Pi" and the Art of Conflict spun by Rikki Lee Travolta in his struggle for redemption "My Fractured Life," Sue Monk Kidd creates a realism in fiction that bridges the worlds of hope and anguish. Fourteen year old Lily is on the run. She is on the run from her abusive father. She is on the run from the whites who are out to get her black caretaker. She is on the run from the past trauma of her role in her own mother's death. This is a story of redemption and hope that is inspirational and marvelous.
Rating:
Summary: Quick, easy read that offers depth
Review: The book is short. I read it in a weekend. Kidd wrote in simple-to-understand language. The story takes place during the civil rights movement and takes place in the south. Despite the brevity and simplicity of the story, the author developed deep and believable characters. There is so much depth to each and every character that is introduced, from the abusive father from whom Lily yearns for a shred of evidence of love to the solid and independent August. It's a lovely story.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully Told
Review: Secret Life Of bees is a poignant deatil oriented book that lends Southern Grace and Charm into the words of this book. Sue Monk Kidd does an excellent job at weaving this story into something that your imagination can see and feel.
I also recommend: Nightmares Echo/Katlyn Stewart,Running With Scissors/A. Burroughs,Beauty For Ashes/Joyce Meyer
Diama Frost
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Story, Interesting Characters
Review: I could not put "Secret Life of Bees' down. Its one of the best books I have read lately. I was completely involved in the characters and their situations. Most importanly young Lily who deep down is searching for knowledge about her dead mother. She ends up staying with bee keepers. The fact that the book is set in the 1960s in South Carolina, makes it even more interesting. Yes, the book is sentimental, but that is what really held my interest.
Rating: 
Summary: The Secret Life of Bees
Review: I had heard some wonderful things about this book. It did not live up to my expectations.
Rating: 
Summary: An idea for consideration
Review: What accounts for the overwhellming response to and acceptance of a book that seems so hard to believe? Other than its rather sappy portrayal of death and its idealized African American characters, there might be another reason,. I suggest that the subtext of this book (since it doesn't seem to come from the author's experiences or acquaintances as reported in her interview published in the back of the book) is an unconscious wish of a white woman (the author disguised as Lily) to be forgiven for her sins against African Americans (symbolically represented as Lily's killing of her mother before she was old enough to be held legally responsible) which is fulfilled through unconditional love and acceptance. Thus the complexity and anxiety of race relations is happily denied to the comfort and relief of what I imagine is a mostly white, female readership.
Rating:
Summary: Ba-boom!
Review: This was perhaps one of the worst books that I have ever read. This book was lined with such racist plot points, I was thoroughly disgusted. My boyfriend read it too, and he felt that the book had a simplistic plot. I think that any book would be better than this. It was typical of a high school freshman's work. I beleive that the main character has the intellegence of a five year old. May was the only character who I liked, and she was killed off. Thanks a lot for ruining the only good parts of the book. I only wish that the characters had been killed off sooner so that the book would not drag on for such a long time.
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