The Secret Life of Bees is a charming coming of age story set in South Carolina in 1964. The story follows young Lily and her black nanny, Rosaleen, as they escape an oppressive household and seek information about Lily’s dead mother.

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I read The Secret Life of Bees as part of the 2024 Thoughtful Reading Challenge. August’s challenge was to read a book set during the 1960s to recognize the 55th anniversary of Woodstock. This historical fiction novel was full of 60’s context, including Jim Crow laws and overt racism. It also reflected the hope that was given to black citizens with the passage of the Civil Rights Act.

We’ll begin with a quick summary of The Secret Life of Bees.

Thirteen-year-old Lily longs for the mother she barely remembers. Her most prominent memory of her mom is an incident involving her death, but that memory is pretty fuzzy. Lily is left to be raised by her cold-hearted father and a taciturn black nanny named Rosaleen.

Lily cherishes the few mementos left of her mother, which includes a small sign with a picture of a black Madonna on it. “Tiburon, South Carolina” is written on the back. When Rosaleen insults some of the town’s racists and is hospitalized for a beating she took in jail, Lily breaks her out of the hospital and together they head to Tiburon.

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It’s easy to pick up her mother’s trail in the town. At the first restaurant she goes into, Lily sees bottles of Black Madonna honey. She finds out where it’s made, and she and Rosaleen pay the owners a visit.

The business is owned by three black beekeeping sisters – August, May, and June. Although Lily doesn’t tell the sisters about her mom, she suspects there is some sort of connection. When the beekeepers agree to take them in in exchange for labor, this gives them the opportunity to learn the art of beekeeping as Lily slowly learns the truth about her mother.

Also important to the story is the role of the black Madonna. The sisters had a statue of a black Madonna and treated it with their own blend of Catholicism and paganism. For example, on the Feast of the Assumption – when Mary was taken up to heaven – the sisters and some of their friends performed an odd ritual in which they all rubbed honey on the statue until it was covered. Regardless, black Mary represented female empowerment and gave the sisters hope and comfort.

I really enjoyed The Secret Life of Bees. It’s an imaginative story written with heart and skill. One of the main themes is the power of love, and the overall feeling is warmth. There are tragedies in the story, but there is also growth, understanding, and acceptance. The characters all have their own well-developed personalities, and most of them are very likable.

The story is told by Lily, and Jenna Lamia, the reader in the audiobook version, does a spectacular job embodying a young teenager with all her emotions and charm.

I highly recommend The Secret Life of Bees, but I’m a little late to the game. Published in 2001, the novel was on the New York Times bestseller list for over 125 weeks. Odds are high that some of my blog readers have read it. What did you think?

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