The Secret Life of Bees

By Sue Monk Kidd

A girl seeks healing and truth in a town holding her mother's secrets.

4.1/5 Goodreads · 1,368,935 ratings

302 pages· 93,216 words· Est. 8.5 hour read

$17.00Save 7%

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Bookroo's summary

In 1964 South Carolina, Lily Owens flees with Rosaleen, her stand-in mother, after a dangerous encounter. They find refuge with three beekeeping sisters in Tiburon, a town tied to Lily's past. As Lily uncovers her mother's secrets, she is drawn into a world of bees, honey, and the enigmatic Black Madonna. Will she find the healing and love she desperately seeks? Discover a tale of courage, mystery, and the power of female bonds.

From the publisher

The multi-million bestselling novel about a young girl’s journey towards healing and the transforming power of love, from the award-winning author of The Invention of Wings and The Book of Longings Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily’s fierce-hearted Black stand-in mother, Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina–a town that holds the secret to her mother’s past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of Black beekeeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna. This is a remarkable novel about divine female power, a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.

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