Mar 25, 2008 Posted by Nancy Williams on Mar 25, 2008 in A-Z Challenge, Books read, Recommended Books | 0 comments

The Secret Life of Bees – Sue Monk Kidd

I took a book off from World War I while I waited for my next Amazon delivery. I swear I keep Amazon in business. Even my postman has commented on the number of Amazon parcels that arrive at my door. In the meantime, I finished a book which had been chosen this month by my reading group which I had read before but was quite happy to revisit.

The first time I read The Secret Life of Bees I was at a different stage of my live, and I absolutely loved it. I loved the strength of Lily, and her desire for love which overcame all prejudice. Reading it the second time around, from a different place in my life, I loved it again but for a different reason. This time I read it less as a story of fight, strength and defiance and more as a story of growth and finding one’s place. Lily touched me again, as did August, Rosaleen, June and May but because I knew the story, I spent more time enjoying the journey rather than anxiously waiting to find out whether they would ultimately win.

The mark of beautiful writing is when an author can truly transport you to a time and place, stimulating every one of your senses. This book does just that. Despite the cold and rain outside, I could feel the heat of the South Carolina summer. Despite the endless soundtrack of traffic outside, I could hear the gentle drone of the bees on the morning air. Despite being indoors, I could smell the freshly mown grass and the rich honey. To achieve this with just words is no small feat and it was one of the reasons that re-reading this book was such a pleasure.

Getting emotionally caught up in books is a habit of mine, and one can’t help grow angry at the blind racism which underpins this story. It is set in the Southern States of America in the 1960s just as the Civil Rights Movement is becoming law. But simply signing a law cannot change ingrained prejudice, and some of the attitudes towards the black inhabitants made you feel ill. You can’t help but ask ‘did people really behave like that?’ – a question which brings you to the realisation that many still do. I have never in my life understood how anyone could believe they were superior simply because of the colour of their skin. And this is something that Lily learns – skin colour means nothing. What matters is love and acceptance. Those people who don’t know that are poorer for it, which comes clear as this story develops.

This book, and those like it, is the reason I prefer to own books rather than borrow them – so I can go back and read them several times over. You will never approach a book as the same person. Everyone changes over time. As such, a re-read becomes a discovery of something new, and a reminder of how things once were.

Rating: 10/10
ISBN: 0-7472-6683-2
Publisher: Headline Book Publishing
Year: 2001
Date Finished: 22 March 2008
Pages: 374
Challenges: M in the A-Z Challenge