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The Secret Life of Bees
 
 
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The Secret Life of Bees [Kindle Edition]

Sue Monk Kidd (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (190 customer reviews)
Print List Price: £8.99
Kindle Price: £4.99 includes VAT* & free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
You Save: £4.00 (44%)
* Unlike print books, digital books are subject to VAT.

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Kindle Edition £4.99   -- --
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Product Description

Review

'Eccentric, inventive, and ultimately forgiving... a truly original Southern voice' (Anita Shreve )

'This is a wonderful book, by turns funny, sad, full of incident and shot through with grown-up magic reminiscent of Joanne Harris.' (Daily Telegraph )

'A honey-sweet novel' (Elle )

'Monk Kidd has created a narrative as skilful and sweet as a honeycomb. Uplifting and warm-hearted, this is a moving novel and Lily is a fascinating, funny and clever narrator' (Literary Review )

'Kidd's first novel is well placed, gentle and deeply moving' (The Times )

The Big Issue

'A wonderful modern fairy tale...a touching story with a memorable cast of characters' The Big Issue
See all Product Description

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 456 KB
  • Print Length: 388 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0747266832
  • Publisher: Review; Export ed edition (3 Feb 2011)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B004P8ITOM
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Not Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (190 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,686 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Holiday reading at its best 6 Mar 2010
By Clare Topping
Format:Paperback
This book tells the story of a white girl trying to grow up in the racially divided deep south in the 1960s, with a father who doesn't love her and no mother following her death when the main character was just four. The author has written the story well, weaving in a number of characters, most of whom you care about enough to hope things turn out well for them in the end.

There are a few twists in the book, but it is not a complicated read. It is the sort of book you can curl up with and relax, but it is not one to make you think or that will change the world. However, I did find it quite addictive and a page turner, which is why I rated it at four stars, not three. This was not in a gripping, edge of the seat, what will happen next kind of way, more in the sense of how will it all work out in the end?

Worth borrowing from the library, or buying to take on holiday if you want a light, entertaining read.
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Moving story 28 Jan 2005
By Monica
Format:Paperback
I have made it a point of reading inspirational books which can help me have a positive outlook to life. Though it reads like a non-fictional memoir, "The Secret Life of Bees" even though it is fictitious, has been tremendously helpful to me as an inspirational book. It is brilliantly written with amazing details and beautiful settings. It showed the unique creativity of the author. This hard to put down book, is sure to capture your heart with its imagery.

Sue Monk Kidd does a brilliant job of laying out a storyline that is not only believable, but is interesting as well. I could not put this book down. Lily Owens will capture your heart. Despite the abuse from the hands of her father T. Ray, she turned out to be a survivor. Sharing her destiny with the beekeeping sisters, and their Black Madonna honey, she finally attains some emotional security in her life. May, one of the sisters is someone who inspires. This is a novel for young adults and adults, because at 14, Lily fights with the hazy memory of her dead mother whom she misses and longs for in rural South Carolina of 1964, where racial violence is inescapable. She finds solace in her surrogate mother - the family's black servant, Rosaleen, who later becomes a victim of racial hatred. It moved on to the escape of Lily and Rosaleen, the search for the identity of Lily's mother's identity and the quest for a sense of belonging in her life This journey led Lily and Rosaleen into the lives of three strange but alluring beekeepers who set Lily who helped Lily to grow up and be at peace with her family and its history.

The story is told through Lily's eyes, mouth, mind and heart, and as such it is deep, hilarious and inspiring.... Read more ›
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124 of 134 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars If you never read another book, read this one! 8 April 2003
By Janette
Format:Paperback
Forget the title - this is a heart-wrenching, beautiful book and I urge you to read it, whatever your usual reading matter. The narrator of this novel, Lily, grows up unloved and believing that she accidentally killed her mother at the age of four. She starts her story "the summer I turned fourteen", and Sue Monk Kidd perfectly captures the awkward restlessness of the teenager, longing for love, yearning to discover the truth and fearful of what will emerge. The casual references to racial attitudes in South Carolina in 1964 are shocking, and the unique beekeeping sisters she finishes up with stay with you and haunt you long after you finish the book. Poignant and humorous by turns, the tale brought tears to my eyes on several occasions, something which has never happened before in my wide reading history. An added bonus are the wonderful facts you will learn about bees... I really can't recommend this book strongly enough!!!
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars A good book group choice 27 Mar 2012
By Jan
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I had read this book once before it was chosen as our book group choice, but I read it again anyway. I probably enjoyed it more the second time around, but I would have to say that this a good book rather than a great one.

The story is quite sweet and simple. A young white girl, Lily, and a black servant, Rosaleen, leave the family home and with a bit of detective work and the most amazing coincidence they end up in the house of a family of women beekeepers who had previously given sanctuary to the girl's mother, who had died when Lily was very young. The book did provoke a lively discussion which is exactly what you want for a reading group. It was inevitably compared to "The Help" which we had also read as a group. The treatment of the race relations issue in each of the two books, which is really the only issue that the two books have in common, caused a quite a disagreement and it was hard to move the discussion on. We did however also manage to talk about Lily's need to find out more about her mother and her mother's troubled life, and it became clear that some of us found the constant and rather sickly references to honey a bit much to take!

This was however a really good choice for a reading group as some people loved it to bits and others didn't. Divided opinions certainly make for an interesting discussion!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Can't keep this a secret 31 Jan 2009
By b.lops
Format:Paperback
A truly charming book, wonderfully written, moving and heart-warming with a spiritual core. The main character is Lily, a motherless teenager who has been brought up by her bitter, angry father. Lily's journey to find something or someone to answer the questions and fill the gap that her mother's death has left within her takes her to a mesmerizing, soulful place in the American south. The year is 1964 and the civil rights act has just been signed which adds more tension to the story and provides an inspired backdrop to Lily's journey. The desciptions are beautiful, I could smell the honey, hear the bees and feel the heat. The characters are full and August Boatwright in particular is one I wish I knew in real life. Lily's thoughts and her anguish are written so well I was reading through tears. This is a moving story but not maudlin or depressing one, it is uplifting, full of heart and inspiration. Just a little footnote, if you enjoyed reading this I recommend you read A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly too.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars I can't wait to start reading this
I have been looking for this book since i heard about the film and i glad i found it. thank you for the quick delievery and also the book and the price :)
Published 16 days ago by Senzeni Matshazi
2.0 out of 5 stars Too Sweet
Lily believes that she killed her mother. She has lived with this since she was a small child, and as now she starts to blossom out into adolescence, she is struck with the... Read more
Published 18 days ago by Joanne D'Arcy
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
I really enjoyed this book it reminded me of the color purple and the help, strangely compelling and great read!
Published 23 days ago by alison parsons
5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down
What a great book, if a little sad at times. The writing style is superb & transports you off into the deep south of America. I'd recommend this. Read more
Published 26 days ago by Espoo, Finland
5.0 out of 5 stars The best book
A lovey story unable to put down have recommended to all my friends will read again and again brilliant brilliant
Published 1 month ago by Lynn Symonds
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Read!
I brought this book after reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett (which I was also recommend!). I was interested in reading books about the apartheid and struggle between... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Hannah Smith
3.0 out of 5 stars It was ok
I read this recently and I could see what was coming. It was driving me nuts how I knew the story because I hadn't read the book before. Read more
Published 1 month ago by ksmith
2.0 out of 5 stars Ok holiday read or if you have nothing else
Sentimental story, though it dealt with difficult topics and had some good characterisation, left me feeling dissatisfied and that I've over indulged in too much schmaltz.
Published 1 month ago by nelkin
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good read
Bought as a book group read. Unusual heartwarming story with interesting takes on racism. We all enjoyed this title very much.
Published 1 month ago by Noname
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
A very interesting look at life in America during the times of black slavery. Its difficult to believe the attitudes that governed at the times. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mrs. L. Johnston
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