07.30.2006 The Secret Life of Bees By Sue Monk Kidd Literary Fiction (c) 2002 302 pages

Arriving at the beach condo we'd be staying at for a week, I checked out my sleeping arragements (the couch, hooray), the view from the balcony (looking straight onto the ocean), and the usually typical book collection. I don't know if there's a general book rule concerning beach houses and condos, or if everyone is eerily similar, but you can count always count on an array of popular authors -- John Grisham, Nora Roberts, Stephen King, Jayne Ann Krentz. But in this case, they also had the fiction book The Secret Life of Bees.

This is actually a pretty thoughtful choice, considering that the beach we stayed at is in South Carolina, and the book is set in a small South Carolina town. The story is about 14-year old Lily, who runs away from home with her nanny and stays at a house lived in by three black women, right on the cusp of the civil rights movement. The oldest woman, August, is a beekeeper and head of a church based on Mary, and Lily eventually assimilates into this new family. However, she is still haunted by what she did in her old town, and above all by the way her mother died when she was 4.

Part of the fun of reading this was in recognizing all the locations -- Charleston, Spartanburg County, and the Gaffney peach water tower that looks like a butt (though I guess it was the Sylvan peach back in those days). Though overall, I was engrossed in the story. I read it all in one night, which I almost never do. The characters were one of the best parts -- they were interesting and realistic at the same time. The mystery of Lily's mother also came to a satisfying conclusion. I would recommend this book to just about anyone, but especially those who like folky stories.

4/5 STARS

FAVORITE AMAZON REVIEW by Cecilia Connally
This book came highly recommended by most of the reviewers on Amazon. That coupled with the fact that it was a New York Times Best Sellor lead me to believe that it would be really great. And for the first third of the book that's what I thought. In viewing the Amazon reviews I noted a few critics but blew them off. About a third of the way into the book my mind kept going back to the critics and I kept thinkig how right they were.
The first part of the story about Lily's life with her father and her "escape" with Rosaleen is intriguing. It's well done and keeps your interest. But when Lily and Rosaleen get to the "pink house" and are taken in by the sisters everything seems to go into fantasy land.
I am African American and went to college in 1963 so I remember those years well. In all of the turmoil that the author says in going on in the town, Lily and Zach are just driving around town and no one notices, especially in the scene where the bottle is thrown at the white men. Now this is not that long after Emmette Till is lynched for looking at a white woman in Mississippi. And what about Zach's parents? The author must have gotten the image or Rosaleen off an old Aunt Jemimah box. Are we to beleive that Rosaleen had no family, friends or obligations even if she was in trouble with the law.
For the second third of the book I just wanted to yell out at Lily, "TELL THE TRUTH." Here these folks have taken you in and you continue to lie and decieve them. When she finally finds out about her mother, I wanted to yell out "GET OVER IT." And the coincidence of Lily finding August is just to far fetched to believe. The author could have left some clues for her to follow, but just to think that she walks into this town and finds them is too much to believe.
The story is a nice fantasy but the characters are not real at all. The whole deal about the cult of Mary and the black women isn't even believable. And how the heck did Lily get registered in school? She is a minor and the Boatwright's had no legal custody of her. Her father could have easily gone to court and gotten her back. And one more point that bothered me. There is a real problem in the story about time. I was reading along and thought long periods of time had passed and then the author tells you it's only been a week or a few days. The time sequence is very confusing.
I hope that I'm not the only one that feels this way. But as far as I'm concerned this book is totally overated.

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