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The Secret Life of Bees is a 2002 novel by author Sue Monk Kidd that has received much critical acclaim.

Plot summary

Lily Owens, the protagonist and narrator of the story, has a vague memory of accidentally shooting her mother at the age of four. Her father leads her to believe this through the years. Lily decides to run away from home after T. Ray, her father, says something completely cruel to her about her mother. Lily had also had to endure years of cruelty from the man.

On her way to register to vote, Rosaleen, Lily's nanny and stand-in mother, steals two church fans and pours snuff juice on the shoes of the three most racist men in town after being verbally assaulted with racial slurs. Rosaleen is arrested for assault, disturbing the peace, and theft. After being beaten with a flashlight by one of the racists and being beaten again in her cell, Rosaleen is sent to the hospital where Lily breaks her out of jail. Together, Lily and Rosaleen hitchhike to Tiburon, South Carolina on the hunch that Lily's mother, who had written the city name on the back of a photo of the Black Madonna, had once lived there.

After arriving in Tiburon, Lily spots the Black Madonna on a jar of honey in a store. Lily goes to the beekeeper's pink house and is taken in by the three black Boatwright sisters: May, June, and August. They supply Rosaleen and Lily with housing, and Lily becomes an apprentice beekeeper under the guidance of August, the head of the household. The whole time at the Boatwright house, Lily faces inner conflict with wanting to know about her mother, but being too afraid to know.

Zachary Taylor, a high school student who works at the apiary to pay for college and become a lawyer, who courts Lily while working alongside her assisting August, is arrested after refusing to reveal which of his friends threw a bottle at a white man protesting a white Hollywood movie star who is bringing a African-American woman with him to a theatrical premiere. When May, one of the sisters, hears of this, she commits suicide by drowning herself, with a rock on her to hold her down.

Lily finally gets her answers about Deborah (her mother) from August. But the truth is overwhelming for her. What her father said about her mother was true, but August points out that Lily's mother did try to fix her mistake...but it cost her her life. She was coming back for Lily after leaving her and then the accident with the gun happened. It takes Lily a while before she forgives her poor dead mother.

Shortly after, T. Ray finds Lily at the Boatwright household, and tries to take her back with him. He is caught up in an angry rage as he thinks his daughter is really his dead wife who he loved very much even though she ran away from him. Lily snaps him out of it by calling him Daddy, which she never had before. After hearing this and coming to his senses, T. Ray lets her stay with the beekeeping sisters after realizing that it would be best for Lily, but more importantly best for him too.

Characters in "The Secret Life of Bees"

• Lily Melissa Owens: The 14-year girl who finds herself on the Boatwright bee farm after escaping her torturous life at home. Main character
• Terrence Ray Owens ("T. Ray"): A peach farmer, father to Lily Owens, and abusive widower.
• Deborah Fontanel Owens: Mother of Lily. She died while preparing to desert her husband.
• Rosaleen Daise: A caring, persistent worker on T. Ray's peach farm, the only "mother figure" Lily has ever known.
• August Boatwright: A caring beekeeper and ex-schoolteacher who takes Lily under her wing.
• May Boatwright: An emotionally challenged sister of August. Every misfortune in the world affects May.
• June Boatwright: August's other sister who dislikes Lily for being white during the beggening of her stay with the Boatwrights.
• The Daughters of Mary: A group of women (and one man) led by August who worship Mary, mother of Jesus, as a godly figure.
• Zachary Taylor: A 17-year-old black teenager with whom Lily eventually falls in love with.

Influences

As a child, Kidd, like Lily, also had a nanny who habitually chewed snuff. Although the author wasn't forced to kneel on grits as punishment, both she and Lily share the same disaffection for them.

Awards and nominations

In addition to being a New York Times bestseller, The Secret Life of Bees has been selected by Good Morning America's "Read This!" Book Club.

2003 SEBA (Southeastern Book Sellers Association) Award for Best Fiction Novel

• 2002 novels
• African American novels