The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

I've loved Sue Monk Kidd since I read her Dance of the Dissident Daughter, so I figured I would love this one too. Whether I would or not, I had to read it for American Film and Lit class. Usually assigned books go over with me like a Kevin Smith movie (gag), but this ended up being the first book in a long time that I read in one day.

This story relates Lily Owens' journey to understand her mother, who died when she was a baby. After running from her abusive father with her black housemaid; because it's in the middle of South Carolina during the Civil Rights Movement, there's considerable danger to her friend. From a label which was one of her mother's few positions, Lily tracks down the Boatwright sisters who bottle their own honey and play host to the Daughters of Mary; this was a sect of black women who put a spin on Christianity to make it more feminine and relatable. Lily's trial to find home and her mother within herself takes readers on an emotional journey that ends satisfyingly and with a heart-warming hope for the future.

Personally, I could relate to the heroine's rough childhood, though I never had to kneel on grits. The dad I hated for obvious reasons, but I also understood his anger towards his daughter. I didn't agree with it, but I understood it. I loved the female-centric religion; I've always thought Jesus and his family was black :-)

Black Madonnas are more common than most people think.

But here's the best thing about Kidd's work: subtle magic. Almost in a Practical Magic and Sarah Addison Allen way, her stories aren't blatantly supernatural but she addresses social issues (like child abuse and racial tension) and the uses "magic" to solve them. For example, the sister with a big pole up her ass must use the most powerful magic to heal her family after a terrible tragedy: love. That is the cheesiest example I could come up with, but ultimately true.

Also, by writing through a child's POV, who can't distinguish race like other southerners and therefore comes down on the right side of the Civil Rights Movement, Kidd was able to acclimate her reader to the pagan practices of the Daughters of Mary. Also, the bees were an unusual element- we know of bees, but don't know them. Kidd's skill is that, as we get to know the bees, we know the meaning of home. No shame in admitting that this book made me cry. 

Thanks, dude!

The movie was not as good as the book, but worth the time. I loved Alicia Keys and Dakota Fanning, so I safe in recommending that as well.

Goodreads link