The Secret Life of Bees

A charming book - well worth reading. Loved the movie, too, which closely follows the book. Both highly recommended

Kudos to Sue Monk! This is a beautiful and heart-warming story of a fourteen year old white girl living on a bee farm in North Carolina. Lilly's adventures as she defines what a real mom is will tug at your heart strings. Ms Monk has drafted an excellent narrative told from the perspective and in the voice of this teenager. You are totally pulled into this story and fall in love with its characters.There is an uplifting, hopeful feeling that's fills the reader at the end. And truly, you will be sad it ended.

One of my favorite novels is THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES. Why? Because author Sue Monk Kidd's writing led me to believe narrator Lilly Owens was a real 14-year-old girl with real 14-year-girls' perceptions and problems. She never let on that an adult wrote the story, which means she's a good writer and trained actress. (I don't know if she has any acting experience, but her writing makes me want to think she does.) I also like it because it reads like a ballet, with its dances performed by the queen bee and her corps, the corps and beekeepers, and the beekeepers and Lilly.

I loved this book! Despite the fact that the likelihood of the story seems far-fetched given the true history of those times, the story is well written and captured my attention fully!

Though the main character, a white southern girl who runs away from home, can be annoying at times, the book overall was very moving. If you like novels based on the South, ones that invoke issues of racism, apathy, have eccentric characters and close with a good ending, I'd highly recommend reading the book. I haven't seen the movie yet and I'm hoping it is as good as this novel was...give it a try.