The Secret Life Of Bees By Sue Monk Kidd

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is a fictional, coming of age novel. Published by Penguin Books in August 2008, The Secret Life of Bees became a New York Times bestseller. With only three hundred pages, a story of self growth and self acceptance unfolds. This novel is considered a strong and empowering piece of literature. The novel depicts the life of a fourteen year old girl named Lily Owens in South Carolina 1964. The story is told in first person limited and displays an internal conflict within the protagonist, Lily Owens. External conflicts are shared amongst other characters, including Lily herself. In the beginning of the story, she is only familiar with her father T.Ray and Rosaleen, her mother figure. As the story

She is shown in her room talking to the bees she kept in the jar about her mother. Lily has always spent her time trying to get as close as she possibly could to her mother, despite the fact she was dead. She expresses how horrible it is living with a person as abusive as T.Ray. One day, Lily decides to avoid T.Ray and goes with Rosaleen downtown. A young white girl and an older colored woman walking together was often looked down upon in this time period. By the time they reached their destination, Rosaleen insults a few of the deepest racists in that area. The men beat Rosaleen and she is sent to jail, with Lily by her side. T.Ray takes out Lily of the cell and she promises she would get Rosaleen out. She fulfills that promise when T.Ray lashes out at her. Lily defends herself as she uses her mother to try to soften T.Ray but he laughs and ridicules her. She decides to run away and break Rosaleen out of her cell. Rosaleen was not where Lily left her, instead she was in the hospital for her injuries. Lily sneaks her out and disappears out of Sylvan that night. They left for Tiburon, a place Lily was drawn to since she found a picture her mother left behind. A picture of a black Virgin Mary with the town’s name behind it. Lily believes she could discover more about her mother if she could find people that possibly knew her. To her surprise she saw the same picture as a label for jars of Black Madonna Honey. Lily and

Once they interact with the sisters, Lily lies about their intentions. She tells elaborate lies about how they ended up in Tiburon and their future plans. One of the sisters, August Boatwright, allows them to stay as long as they needed whereas June Boatwright strongly disapproves and May Boatwright seems unbothered. Upon living with the sisters, the Daughters of Mary are introduced to Lily and Rosaleen. All together they worship a black Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Chains. Lily helps August with beekeeping in return of housing. August teaches her the similarities between bees and humans and learns how to love the bees, as well as everyone around her. Lily falls in love with the life she has in Tiburon but feels guilty about her secret. A week passes by and Lily is taken aback by a black boy named Zach who also works with the bees. Shortly after meeting, they both develop romantic feelings for each other. One day Lily finds May