The Secret Life of Bees
Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees is a fantastic book. It manages to be both sad and uplifting at the same time. I wept through a whole section of it, in a good way. The main character, Lily Owens, reminded me strongly of Huck Finn. Their stories start off similarly, both adolescents escape from abusive fathers and traveling south to find refuge. But where Huck keeps traveling, Lily quickly settles in with the Boatwright sisters who she knows has a connection to her deceased mother. The two books also explore race relations, as seen through the eyes of a white teenager who doesn't quite agree with society at large. Unlike The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , The Secret Life of Bees is very much a female story. Lily's coming of age is anchored by the many women around her, acting as mothers and sisters. On a spiritual level, her relationship with Mary becomes incredibly important, too. Lily has to learn to come to terms with her relationship with her...