"The Secret Life of Bees"

The first novel of Sue Monk Kidd did not disappoint. From page 1 until the end I was engrossed and entertained. Not only does the book captivate its reader, but it makes one think and ponder various issues from race relations past and present to the love between mothers and daughters, daughters and fathers and humans in general. As I stated before Kidd's use of figurative language is beautiful, and she seems to take a metaphor one step further than what you think she will, and she does it with grace, for sure. The "life of bees" is the foundation the story is built upon, and I learned a lot about beekeeping, which is really a fantastic process. Honey is likened to the "windex" in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" in that it cures all, and after finishing the book Kidd has me believing that it just might. The only drawback or remotely negative thought I had about "Bees" was that it included an eccentric, femininely elevated form of Catholicism (best I can describe it), which was intriguing and genuine at first but became a little cumbersome and over the top by book's end. Also, the anger I had toward one of the characters wasn't completely satiated by the end either, but I think I understand why Kidd went the way she did. All in all, worth every page and, may I add, one sweet read.

Enjoy these snippets:

"You think you want to know something, and then once you do, all you can think about is erasing it from your mind. From now on when people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I planned to say, Amnesiac."

"Looking at her eyes, I could see a fire inside them. It was a hearth fire you could depend on, you could draw up to and get warm by if you were cold, or cook something on that would feed the emptiness in you. I felt like we were all adrift in the world, and all we had was the wet fire in August's eyes. But it was enough."