The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Sue Monk Kidd was born on August 12, 1948, in Sylvester, Georgia, and lived on a plot of land that had belonged to her family for more than 200 years. She spent all of her childhood in Sylvester, a safe, small, rural town she has called “endearing” and “Mayberry-esque” in interviews, even though the town was the site of racial injustices so prevalent in the South during that time. As a child, Kidd observed the deeply ingrained segregation between white and black southerners. Nevertheless, she recalls listening to the stories of the African American women that worked in the domestic realm of her home.
Throughout her thirties, Kidd began to use her writing to explore philosophy and theology. She read widely in the classics of Western spirituality, philosophy, and literature, and she has named the Swiss psychiatrist C. G. Jung and the monk and poet Thomas Merton as important influences discovered during that time. In 1988, Kidd published her first book, God’s Joyful Surprise: Finding Yourself Loved, a spiritual memoir that explores her Christian faith and personal relationship with God. Her next book, another spiritual memoir called When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life’s Sacred Questions (1990), describes Kidd’s spiritual awakening. Virtue magazine named this book its “Book of the Year” in 1991. Kidd’s third book, Dance of the Dissident Daughter: A Woman’s Journey from Christian Tradition to the Sacred Feminine (1996), describes Kidd’s transition from a Baptist upbringing to the development of her unique feminist perspective. This bestselling memoir explores feminist theology—a thematic interest that would reappear in her later fictional work, including The Secret Life of Bees.

Summary:

This story is set in a segregated town of South Carolina in 1964. Lily Owens, a 14 year-old girl, is haunted by the memory of the death of her mother years ago. To escape her lonely life and abusive relationship with her father, Lily flees with Rosaleen, her caregiver and only friend, to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by the intelligent and independent Boatwright sisters, Lily finds solace in their mesmerizing world of beekeeping.

Tone/Feeling/Mood/Themes

segregation
strength
coming of age
devotion
love
motherhood
empathy
determination
female community
old fashioned
southern
rich
inspirational
faith

Quotes:

“Most people don’t have any idea about all the complicated life going on inside a hive. Bees have a secret life we don’t know anything about.”

“Putting black cloths on the hives is for us. I do it to remind us that life gives way into death, and then death turns around and gives way into life.”

I chose this book because I think the story is highly relatable and timeless. It's a classic that I've always enjoyed and I believe it has potential to be modernized and re-designed to correspond to the contemporary styles of today's world while also incorporating the old-fashioned southern influences. Additionally, the imagery throughout the story offers great potential for an eye catching cover.