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The Secret Life of Bees book cover

The Secret Life of Bees

by Sue Monk Kidd

A fourteen-year-old runs away in 1964 and finds a home with three beekeeping sisters

2002Steady paceWarm

What it is about

In 1964, Lily Owens flees her harsh father with Rosaleen, the woman who has cared for her. They find shelter in the pink house of the Boatwright sisters in Tiburon, South Carolina, who keep bees and make honey. There Lily searches for the truth about her mother.

Who will enjoy it

Readers who like warm Southern novels about family, friendship and finding a place to belong.

What you will get

A comforting, absorbing story with a strong sense of place. It balances hard subjects with kindness.

Behind the book

It was Kidd’s first novel, and a film version followed in 2008.

Source: Wikipedia

The Secret Life of Bees Facts: Pages, Genre and Setting

Genre

Literary Fiction · Coming of age · Sisterhood · Healing

Length

301 pages · ≈ 9 h

More about this book

Characters

Lily Owens, Rosaleen and the Boatwright sisters.

Setting

South Carolina in the summer of 1964, as civil rights law changes the country.

What makes it different

Bees and honey give the story its images.

Feel

Warm, gentle and hopeful, with some hard moments.

About Sue Monk Kidd

Sue Monk Kidd1 book on Tori BooksAmerican author, born in 1948. Her first novel, The Secret Life of Bees, appeared in 2002.

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