There are novels that are motivated by complex plots; there are novels peopled with memorable characters; and there are novels with fascinating factual frameworks. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd uses all three devices to create a compelling and enjoyable book.
Complex Plot
The story in The Secret Life of Bees is that of Lily Melissa Owens, a young girl who reaches puberty in rural South Carolina in 1964. Lily’s life is the narrow life of an abused child whose mother died when she was four. Lily has incoherent memories of the day her mother dies but no clear understanding of the events that she recalls. After Lily’s mother dies her father places her in the care of a black farm hand named Rosaleen. When Rosaleen decides to register to vote, Lily’s life changes dramatically.
From the moment Lily frees Rosaleen from prison and runs away from home the plot hovers around three questions like a bee around a particularly attractive blossom. How did Lily’s mother die? Will her father find them? And will the police catch up to Rosaleen and Lily?
These three primary questions often recede to the background of the story as the reader is drawn into the eccentric life of the beekeeping sisters who shelter Lily and Rosaleen. Lily finds their home a haven where she can grow emotionally, spiritually, and physically.
Fascinating Characters
Lily is a good example of a typical teenage narrator. In her, Kidd creates a solid and believable character whose type we have met in other novels. Her nursemaid, Rosaleen, typifies a particular type of black woman from the era of the Civil Rights movement. Rosaleen is both loveable and humorous.
However, the characters that draw the reader into the novel and make themselves at home in the reader’s mind are the Boatwright sisters. Eccentric, energetic, and intelligent, the Boatwright sisters capture the imagination. Readers who enjoy character driven novels will not be disappointed in August, May, and June Boatwright.
Factual Framework
In addition to crafting a good plot and memorable characters, Kidd also utilizes a thematic tool that often takes a novel to a higher level. She relates the movement of the story to a factual metaphor. In The Secret Life of Bees, her factual metaphor is that of bee colonies and beekeeping. Each chapter opens with a quote from a scientific article pertaining to the colony life of bees. In addition, Kidd educates the reader and Lily about bees through various conversations with August Boatwright.
The framework is strong and beautiful. It allows the reader to explore the less tangible elements of the story through the exploration of something that to most reader’s will find new or only vaguely remembered. The structure of bee life, becomes a metaphor for the emotional growth of Lily.
A Complete Novel
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is a complete novel. It has the elements that make a book an enjoyable read; a good plot to encourage continued reading, strong characters that live in the reader’s imagination, and a factual framework that both educates and intrigues. From the standpoint of reader entertainment and enjoyment, the book does not disappoint.
Kidd, Sue Monk. The Secret Life of Bees. Penguin Putnam, Inc. 2002. ISBN 0-670-89460-5
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