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The Secret Life of Bees
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The Secret Life of Bees
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The Secret Life of Bees
Audiobook9 hours

The Secret Life of Bees

Written by Carol Shields

Narrated by Jenna Lamia

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

An intoxicating debut novel of "one motherless daughter's discovery of...the strange and wonderful places we find love" -The Washington PostSue Monk Kidd's ravishing debut novel has stolen the hearts of reviewers and readers alike with its strong, assured voice. Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the town's fiercest racists, Lily decides they should both escape to Tiburon, South Carolina-a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. There they are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters who introduce Lily to a mesmerizing world of bees, honey, and the Black Madonna who presides over their household. This is a remarkable story about divine female power and the transforming power of love-a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJan 28, 2003
ISBN9781101050989
Unavailable
The Secret Life of Bees
Author

Carol Shields

Carol Shields was born in Chicago and lived in Canada for most of her life. She is the author of three short story collections and eight novels, including the Pulitzer Prize -- winning The Stone Diaries and Larry’s Party, winner of the Orange Prize.

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Reviews for The Secret Life of Bees

Rating: 3.9354153840895703 out of 5 stars
4/5

8,485 ratings343 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In a well-written and poignant book, Sue Monk Kidd tells the story of Lily Owens, a fourteen-year-old girl living in South Carolina in 1964. Lily is abused by her redneck father, whom she calls T. Ray rather than “Daddy” or some other family name that would indicate closeness and protection. Lily feels unloved and misses her mother, who died when Lily was only four years old. The only person in her life who seems to love her is Rosaleen, her black nanny. Lily cherishes and keeps hidden a few items once owned by her mother, one of which is a jar of honey featuring a black Madonna on the label and referring to Tiburon, a nearby town. When Rosaleen runs into trouble for trying to vote, she and Lily run away and head for Tiburon. Aside from securing safety for Rosaleen, Lily hopes to find out something about her mother.In Tiburon, Lily and Rosaleen are taken in and given succor by the Boatwright sisters: May, June, and August (jocularly referred to as the “calendar girls”). The women are beekeepers and sell their honey under a label featuring a black Madonna, just like the one found among Lily’s mother’s things. The Boatwrights are black, which doesn’t bother them or Lily, but their white neighbors are sorely troubled by that fact. The Boatwrights and some of their friends practice some odd religious-like behaviors featuring devotion to a black Madonna. Lily comes to realize that the strength of the black Madonna actually lies within those who honor her. Similarly, Lily sees that she herself has to be the source of her own strength. But she also learns from studying the social interactions of bees in their hives that the ability to be effective and realize power can come from collaboration as well as from individual efforts. Evaluation: This is a creative coming-of-age story nested inside a social and racial justice parable. It begins as a tale of a teenager who is unloved (by her father), and possibly abandoned (by her mother). She ultimately finds love and self worth by running away from what would traditionally be considered "home," and finding “real” family with a group of nurturing women. All of the characters are well-wrought and either sympathetic or, where appropriate, despicable.(JAB)
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This was a touching story of a young girl struggling with the death of her mother, and the people who helped her realise how much she was loved.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It’s 1964 South Carolina. 14 years old Lily Owens has blurred memories of having killed her mom. She lives under her abusive father in isolation, loneliness, and semi-regularly punished to kneel on grits (what the f is that about). When her overly outspoken nanny/housemaid Rosaleen gets in trouble, the two of them escape to Tiburon where they are taken in by the trio of beekeeping sisters, August, June, and May. In fear of the past and being sent back, Lily delayed confining the truth of why she arrived at Tiburon to the sisters. In time, Lily learns about life, herself, the incredible black culture, her future profession – beekeeping, eventually her past, and finally, gaining her freedom. I should have liked this book more, but I felt it was marred by a single element. While there are multiple strong themes, I kept wanting to shake (maybe slap) Lily on her seemingly unjustified delay in telling the truth. I understand her hesitation at the beginning but the degree to which it was dragged out annoyed me, which also distracted me from the core of the book. Through the wisdom of August, Lily learns to appreciate herself, that she is enough, that her heart is the source of her strength, and to make choices that matters. I know a number of women who love this book, particularly savoring the womanhood and sisterhood elements. Maybe because I have outgrown the stages that Lily is stepping through, I didn’t gain much from reading this.Quote:On inherent bias – a common theme these days, especially in the corporate world:Lily: “T. Ray did not think colored women were smart. Since I want to tell the whole truth, which means the worst parts, I thought they could be smart, but not as smart as me, me being white. Lying on the cot in the honey house, though, all I could think was August is so intelligent, so cultured, and I was surprised by this. That’s what let me know I had some prejudice buried inside me.”On marriage:August: “I decided against marrying altogether. There were enough restrictions in my life without someone expecting me to wait on him hand and foot. Not that I’m against marrying. Lily. I’m just against how it’s set up.”
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It is 1964 in South Carolina. When Lily was only 4 years old, her mother was killed and she thinks she did it by accident, but she doesn't remember the details. Now, she's 14 and has had to live with her abusive father since her mother died. When she and their housekeeper, Rosaleen, a black woman, get into trouble with the law, Lily manages to break Rosaleen out of jail and they run away and find a woman (August) and her sisters in another town to stay with, while they help with the housework and August's beekeeping. I really liked this, although the end was a little unrealistic, I thought. I really enjoyed some of the secondary characters. I'm actually finding I don't have a lot else to say about the book. Was really good, though.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A good, light summer read. Somewhat formulaic, but good nonetheless.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book has actually become one of my writing reference books. I use it to inspire thoughts within as well as for writing study. A good example of good writing. I've listened via audiobook, and too, read the book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book is so wonderful. I fell in love with Lily and Rosaleen and the Boatwright sisters. It's a beautiful story with so much heart. I just loved everything about it. Two or three chapters in everything started to seem really familiar, so I'm quite certain I had read this about 15 years ago. Normally, I'd have stopped reading once realizing that, but this one was well worth a reread. I'm going to go ahead and say it's the best book I've read this year.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Well told story, interesting and engaging.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I LOVED this book. Best book I've read in a while.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    A bit sappy, but an engaging read, though it ends up being a bit shallow
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I think this was the first book I put on my 'to read' list and by the time I had a copy in my hand I thought it was a book about bee-keeping! It's a lovely book. Not quite sure how she manages to make it such a warm and happy book considering the terrible times and the struggles of the civil rights movement. Had to go listen again to Desert Island Discs interviewing Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative and the terror that people lived with. Still it isn't a bad thing to engage with the warmth of human kindness once in a while. And there was quite a lot about bees.... On the whole I'd rather it hadn't been set when and where it was - but it was well written and otherwise a pleasure to read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Sweet little read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Charming, heartwarming book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Enjoyable. A bit fantastic
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A powerful and moving coming of age story. Rife with turmoil, in a society that itself is in upheaval, follow Lily as she tries to find her place in the world, and the truth of her life. Love is a powerful thing, but rarely is felt so keenly as it is by the main characters in 'The Secret Life of Bees'. This book touched me at my core. I smiled, I laughed, I cried, and I was sorry when it was over. I didn't want to leave the pink house of the beekeeping sisters. I didn't want to leave the strange family they forged behind. This story is a true gem.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Wonderful book; great characters and the story draws you in to their world. Best book i have read in months!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This has been on my to-read list for a long time. Loved the story and the characters. The story flows through tragedy, pain, and healing. Excellent book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Loved this book......Back Cover Blurb:Lily has grown up believing she accidentally killed her mother when she was four. She not only has her own memory of holding the gun, but her father's account of the event. Now fourteen, she yearns for her mother, and for forgiveness. Living on a peach farm in South Carolina with her father, she only has one friend: Rosaleen, a black servant whose sharp exterior hides a tender heart. South Carolina in the sixties is a place where segregation is still considered a cause worth fighting. When racial tension explodes one summer afternoon, and Rosaleen is arrested and beaten, Lily is compelled to act. Fugitives from justice and from Lily's harsh and unyielding father, they follow a trail left by a woman who died ten years before. Finding sanctuary in the home of three beekeeping sisters, Lily starts a journey as much about her understanding of the world, as about the mystery surrounding her mother.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A solid book that neatly ties up all loose ends, manages to be real, and creates a vivid description of life in 1960's South Carolina.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a very good book. If you have read Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt, or The Help, this book falls along those lines. It's very fluid in the writing, and easy to read.

    After an argument with her father, Lily runs away and finds the "calendar" sisters in Tiburon, SC. She knows that her deceased mother knew the calendar sisters, but she doesn't know how or why, and she's afraid to find out... The story is one young woman's journey to learn the truth about her mother...and about herself...
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Interesting book
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great book
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Set in South Carolina during the Civil Rights movement - we have our young heroine Lily running away from home with her home's black servant, Rosaleen. Lily runs towards the one hint of her mothers past, a label with a bee on it and an address. There she finds three sisters who are not quite what they seem.this is a story of Lily finding herself and coming to terms with her deceased mother. And it is a fairly typical feel good story, where the main characters went through some troubles, but ultimately, come out scarred, but stronger. Race relations is fairly prominent in this book, Lily, a white girl, being taken in by three black sisters. Unfortunately, it falls into the "outsider Black Saviour" sort of book, where August, the matriarch of the calendar sisters, brings knowledge and wisdom to all those around her, while having no faults of her own. Civil Rights are a background to this book - This book felt a bit too nice. The Black Madonna worship felt contrived and some of the congregation was a bit stereotypical. Overall, a cute feel good book that won't challenge a reader.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Excellent book! Characters are interesting, flawed, and varied. Loved the setting, the subject matter, everything. Enjoyed it! Great beach read!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    There are books that move you in ways you can express, you can point to, you can share and relate to others. Much of that applies to Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bee's. What is worth emoting however is the intangible, things that simply don't translate. I believe this isn't unique to me, but many readers and what makes this book so special. The setting, the people, the circumstances, and experience may be very different from our own, but the themes of feeling abandoned, seeking our own history and truths, struggling with injustice, healing through spirituality, are universal when presented by a gifted writer who makes these characters and their stories so accessible.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Yea so what if I read this book in one day?! I really really liked it. And it has lived up to the hype thankfully. The thing with me is, I don't really watch TV or films often so I've missed watching this so the book and story was very new to me and I'm glad. I loved most the characters from Lily to August, May, the daughters, Zach etc. I didnt like the way Lily's father treated her or the horrid policemen and other guys but the women thrived regardless of that. Women who have had things happen to them but carry on in the face of adversity. And the relationships were tight and wonderful. And I loved the bees. The facts at the beginning of every page which I had to share with my poor uninterested husband.All in all, I found it rather splendid and it was wrapped up neatly with a little bow.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I admit, it took me a long time to pick this up. I had even purchased it as a gift given the rave reviews. But I just thought it would be too sappy (no pun intended) and fluffy for my usual dark and harsh reality preferences. I was thankfully wrong in so many ways.This is the perfect novel for any woman anywhere any time in her life. It's a reminder of being female moreso than the color of your skin. Women blossom when surrounded by other women, though some of us wilt regardless and that's actually ok. Though it's a classic cliche for a theme, Kidd's novel is anything but typical.A bit predictable at times, this just serves to remind the reader that life can be that way. Many of the characters in the novel are broken women but you aren't left feeling incomplete; alone each women is missing pieces but together they are a perfectly finished puzzle, much like the hives they tend to. The analogies are so perfectly planned I will never look at a bee, or its sting, the same.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    pretty good
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A beautiful, lyrical novel.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A good, light summer read. Somewhat formulaic, but good nonetheless.