By Sue Monk Kidd
This is one of those rare books where every sentence is literary genius. Add to that a story that is profound, moving and gripping and you have The Secret Life of Bees.
Lily's mother is dead. She lives a man she calls T. Ray because "daddy" is just too nice a word for someone like him. Rosaleen is brought in from the peach orchard to work as housekeeper and nanny the day that Lily's mother dies. On Lily's first day of school, T. Ray wants to make sure that Lily understands it was she who picked up the rifle on the floor as her parents fought; it was four year old lily who pulled the trigger and shot her mother dead - not him. "The police asked lots of questions, but it was just one of those things. You didn't mean to do it."
Set in the South on the 60's, Rosaleen and Lily escape the sure murder of Rosaleen for the audacity of wanting to register to vote. Lily escapes T. Ray, his absolute hatred for his own daughter and a temper that threatens murder.
This book reminds me of Flannery O'Connors work and Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.
"I realized it for the first time in my life: 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."
Review by Terri J. Rice
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