Sue Monk Kidd\'s Book, the Secret Life

Sue Monk Kidd's book, The Secret Life of Bees, is a testament to the healing power of love in a young girl's life. Lily, was left motherless at four, and blames herself for her mother's death. The book is deeply moving and beautifully written, especially through Kidd's treatment of the loss of Lily's mother. Personally, the book reinforced my understanding of the important role a mother plays in her child's growth, and how love can heal many wounds.

The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, a young woman reeling from the death of her mother at the age of four. Lily lives with her ornery and dismissive father, and blames herself for her mother's death. She is largely alone in the world, with only the company of a black woman, Rosaleen, who her father has hired to keep up the house, and who ends up being Lily's "stand-in mother" (p. 2). Rosaleen, who has gone into town to register to vote against T. Ray's wishes, insults three of the town's biggest racists by spilling spit onto their shoes. Rosaleen is mistreated by police, and Rosaleen is sent to jail. Lily decides they must escape, and the two women make their way to Tiburon, South Carolina, guided only by the fact that this name is on one of her mother's pictures. At Tiburon, they are "adopted" by three sisters, May, June, and August Boatwright, who keep bees. The three women are kind and strong, and help Lily and Rosaleen adapt to their new lives. Lily makes friends with a young black boy named Zach. Eventually, Lily learns that her mother had stayed with May, June, and August after she had left T. Ray, and that she had come back to collect Lily. T. Ray tracks Lily down, the two have a confrontation, and R. Ray slaps and grabs her. He leaves, and Lily resumes her life in the bee house.

Overall, I found this book to be beautifully written and deeply moving. Lily's struggles with the death of her mother are heartbreaking to read, and Sue Monk Kidd does a wonderful job of creating vibrant moving images. Her descriptions bring up emotions, and create interesting images and impressions. Writes Kidd, "During the day I heard (the bees) tunneling through the walls of my bedroom, sounding like a radio tuned to static in the next room, and I imagined them in there turning the walls into honeycombs, with honey seeping out for me to taste." Here, Kidd's description of honeycombs in the walls illustrates her almost poetic and haunting writing style.

One of the most significant events in the book occurs when Lily's mother dies. This event is important for many reasons. The loss of Lily's mother is crucial to the plot and theme of the rest of the book. It is the loss of her mother that leaves Lily motherless and alone. Lily blames herself for her mother's death, and is consumed by guilt and regret. Says Lily, "She was all I wanted. And I took her away" (p. 7). These themes of maternal loss, guilt and forgiveness are weaved throughout the book, and can all be traced back to the death of Lily's mother.

In the book, Sue Monk Kidd brings the death of Lily's mother through the careful use of imagery and diction. Writes Kidd, "My first and only memory of my mother was the day she died" (p. 5). This strong statement indicates that Lily's mother's death is an important and crucial event. Kidd continues, "The furnace had cooked the air so hot my mother had peeled off her sweater and stood in short sleeves" (p. 5). Here, Kidd sets up a theme of tension and anticipation, and foreshadows the increasing tension in Lily's household. Later, Kidd describes the events of "I don't remember what they said, only the fury of their words, how the air turned raw and full of welts. Later it would remind me of birds trapped inside a closed room, flinging themselves against the windows and the walls, against each other" (p. 5). Here, the imagery of birds symbolizes the way that Lily and her mother are trapped by the abusive T. Ray, a theme echoed with Lily's descriptions of bees trapped in a jar.

Kidd's imagery describing the violence between Lily's mother and T. Ray is evocative and poetic. Writes Kidd describes Lily's view of the fight, "I huddled on the floor beside the door and watched through air that seemed all scratched up. I saw him take her by the shoulders and shake her, her head bouncing back and forth. I saw the whiteness of his lip" (p. 7). Here, the phrase "all scratched up" provides a vivid description of Lily's state of mind. The violence is disturbing and surreal to her, as if she were viewing the interaction between her parents through a distorted and damaged lens. From this unclear and distorted remembrance, Lily determines that she has shot and killed her own mother.

This book reinforced my understanding of the importance of motherhood and the sisterhood of women. As an independent person, I have often taken the companionship and help of other women for granted. Reading about Lily's loss of her mother, along with her tremendous guilt and poor relationship with T. Ray helped me to focus on the importance of a mother's role in her children's life.