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Description edit
Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted black "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
Living on a peach farm in South Carolina with her harsh, unyielding father, Lily Owens has shaped her entire life around one devastating, blurred memory--the afternoon her mother was killed, when Lily was four. Since then, her only real companion has been the fierce-hearted, and sometimes just... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters edit
- Lily Owens: Lily is a young white girl growing up in the Jim Crowe South. Her father treats her terribly, and her mother died when she was really young. Lily and her nanny run away and take refuge with three black sisters. During the course of this novel, Lily grows into a mature young woman who does not allow the social and societal norms to affect her views on how life should be. Her mother is dead, and she is on a search to find her. On her way, she meets the calendar sisters: (April-dead), May, June, July, August.
- Rosaleen: Housekeeper of the Owens family.
- August Boatwright: Sister to May, June and April. African-American. Beekeeper ... wise and insightful.
- June Boatwright: Sister to August and May. African-American and plays the cello to the dead and dying for the living. Also plays piano.
- May Boatwright: African-American sister to June and August. Keeps the house running with Rosaleen. May has a mental disorder that makes it hard for fer to distinguish other people's pain from her own. Visits the "Wall" a lot to think about the sufferings that her deceased sister April went through.
- Zachary Taylor: African-American teenager who aspires to be a lawyer. Helps the sisters with the beekeeping business
- April Boatwright: May, June and August's sister. She was May's twin. She died early
- Deborah Fontanel Owens: Lily's mother; T. Ray's dead wife and friend to August.
- Neil: A school principal who loves June but can't get her to marry him.
- Mabelee: One of the Daughters of Mary who decorates the cake.
- Clayton: The lawyer who helped colored people with their cases.
- Otis: Wife of Sugar-Girl; the only "Son" in the Daughters of Mary.
- Brother Gerald: The pastor in the Baptist church where Lily and T-Ray attend.
- Terrence 'T-Ray' Ray Owens: He is abusive to his daughter, Lily, because she reminds him of her mother.
Quotes edit
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“'I was gonna say, The problem is they know what matters, but they don't choose it. You know how hard that is, Lily? I love May, but it was still so hard to choose Carribbean Pink. The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters.”
August -
“What about vomit in a sink? They teach a charming way to do that?”
Rosaleen -
“You see, everybody needs a God who looks like them, Lily.”
August -
“I can tell you this much: the world is a great big log thrown on the fires of love.”
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““There is nothing perfect,” August said from the doorway. “There is only life.””
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“Lily Melissa Owens, your jar is open.”
a voice in Lily's head -
“...some things don't matter much. Like the color of a house. How big is that in the overall scheme of life? But lifting a person's heart--now, that matters. The whole problem with people is...they know what matters, but they don't choose it...The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters.”
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“People, in general, would rather die than forgive. It' that hard. If God said in plain language, "I'm giving you a choice, forgive or die," a lot of people would go ahead and order their coffin.”
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“...no matter how much you thought you could leave your mother behind, she would never disappear from the tender places in you.”
Lily -
“Don't you ever be afraid. I am enough. We are enough.”
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“I have noticed that if you look carefully at people's eyes the first five seconds they look at you, the truth of their feelings will shine through for just an instant before it flickers away.”
Lily -
“Knowing can be a curse on a person’s life. I’d traded in a pack of lies for a pack of truth, and I didn’t know which one was heavier. Which one took the most strength to carry around? It was a ridiculous question, though, because once you know the truth, you can’t ever go back and pick up your suitcase of lies. Heavier or not, the truth is yours now.”
Lily Owens -
“I knew it would be selfish to pour this into her cup when it was already to the brim with grief for May”
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“You just don't interrupt somebody's mourning with your own problems.”
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“When you're unsure of yourself - when you start pulling back into doubt and small living - think of this source within saying, "Get up from there and live like the glorious girl you are."”
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“She didn't say, Come on now, stop your crying, everything's going to be okay, which is the automatic thing people say when they want you to shut up. She said, "It hurts, I know it does, let it out. Just let it out."”
-
“Sunset is the saddest light there is.”
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“Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can’t remember who we are or why we’re here.”
Rosaleen -
“The secret of a good lie is don't overly explain, and throw in one good detail.”
Lily -
“Who you think you are, Julius Shakespeare? The man sincerely thought that was Shakespeare's first name, and if you think I should correct him you are ignorant about the art of survival"”
Lily talking about T. Ray -
“I lost my boundaries, feeling like the sky was my own skin and the moon was my heart beating up there in the dark.”
Lily -
“I felt painfully alive, like every cell in my body had a little flame inside it, burning so brightly it hurt.”
Lily -
“dragonflies, darted back and forth like they were stitching the sky”
Lily -
“I have noticed that if you look carefully at people's eyes the first five seconds they look at you, the truth of their feelings will shine through for just on instant before it flickers away”
Lily -
“The way those bees flew, not even looking for a flower, just flying for the feel of the wind, split my heart down its seam.”
-
“The door closed. So quiet it amounted to nothing but a snap of air, and that was the strangeness of it, how a small sound like that could fall across the whole world.”
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“There's nothing like a song about lost love to remind you how everything precious can slip from the hinges where you've hung it so careful.”
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“There is nothing but mystery in the world, how it hides behind the fabric of our poor, browbeat days, shining brightly, and we don't even know it.”
-
“The world will give you that once in a while, a brief time out; the boxing bell rings and you go to your corner, where somebody dabs mercy on your beat-up life.”
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“Did you know there are thirty-two names for love in one of the Eskimo languages? And we just have this one. Isn't that a shame we don't have more ways to say it?”
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“When it's time to die, go ahead and die, and when it's time to live, live. Don't sort-of-maybe live, but live like you're going all out, like you're not afraid.”
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“And when you get down to it, that's the only purpose grand enough for a human life. Not just to love--but to persist in love.”
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“Whenever I opened one, T. Ray said, "Who do you think you are, Julius Shakespeare?" The man sincerely thought that was Shakespeare's first name, and if you think I should have corrected him, you are ignorant about the art of survival.”
Lily Owens -
“"Oh Brother Gerald, she was just kidding."”
Rosaleen -
“Actually, you can be bad at something, Lily, but if you love doing it, that will be enough.”
August
Setting & Locations edit
South Carolina in 1964
First Sentence edit
At night I would lie in bed and watch the show, how bees squeezed through the cracks of my bedroom wall and flew circles around the room, making that propeller sound, a high-pitched zzzzzz that hummed along my skin.
Themes & Symbolism edit
Series & Lists edit
This is book 38 of 194 in Shelfari Most Popular (December 2010). (authoritative list)
This book is in Movie Tie-Ins 2008. (community list)
This is book 35 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (June 2010). (authoritative list)
This is book 41 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (June 2011). (authoritative list)
This is book 44 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (December 2011). (authoritative list)
This book is in Book Lover's Cook Book, The. (authoritative list)
Authors & Contributors edit
- Sue Monk Kidd (Author)
Other Contributors:
- Kim Ellington (Illustrator)
- Borgin Reput (Cover Artist)
- Wally Frank (Translator)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Viking Press
Country: United States
Publication Date: October 2002
ISBN: 9780670032372
Page Count: 301
Publisher: Viking Press
Country: United States
Publication Date: October 2002
ISBN: 9780670032372
Page Count: 301
Awards edit
Classification edit
- Copyright Status: Public Domain
- Library of Congress: PS3611.I44 S38 2002 FT MEADE
- Dewey: 813.54
Subjects edit
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Links to Supplemental Material edit
- Sue Monk Kidd: On this website, there is a full description of the book, an excerpt of chapter 1, tons of reviews, and more.
Movie Connections edit
- The Secret Life of Bees (2008) (IMDb): set in South Carolina in 1964, this is the tale of Lily Owens a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother. To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father, Lily flees with Rosaleen, her caregiver and only friend, to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by the intelligent and independent Boatwright sisters, Lily finds solace in their mesmerizing world of beekeeping. Written by Fox Searchlight Pictures
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