The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

“People can start out one way, and by the time life gets through with them they end up completely different.”

In The Secret Life of Bees, Racial conflict, internal conflict, and a bond between five women all have their roots in honey. This novel is about a thirteen year old girl named Lily Owens who has the misfortune of growing up in a confused time--the early 1960’s, without a mother and hateful father. She is forced to work on her father’s peach farm and the only clothes she wears are the ones she manages to sew herself. Lily’s only consolations are the bees that swarm around her room at night and her relationship with Rosaleen, her servant who serves as a mother figure. Lily’s life with T-ray, the name which she calls her father, forces her to remember when life was happier—when her mother was alive, but she can’t help but think that she had something to do with her mother’s death. This novel revolves around Lily’s attempt to solve the mystery of her mom’s death, but finds inner peace along the way.
When Rosaleen angers three of the most racist men in Sylvan by spitting on one of their shoes, Lily decides to bust her out of jail and escape. With only a few things her mother left her and a small amount of money they leave South Carolina in search of Lily’s mother’s past. They stop at a restaurant on their way and Lily sees the same portrait of a black Mary on a jar of honey as her mother left her. The owner of the restaurant, who wouldn’t let Rosaleen in his restaurant because she was black, pointed the women to Tiburon, North Carolina, to the Boatwright’s house. Rosaleen and Lily arrive at the house to meet August, May, and June Boatwright living in a large, pink house as beekeepers. August recognizes Lily right away, but keeps it a secret in order to let Lily open up on her own terms. Lily makes up a fake last name and a story and tells the sisters that she needs a house to stay in while she waits for word from her aunt in Virginia. August goes along with the story and allows Rosaleen and Lily to stay in the honey house for as long as they like. Lily learns much about herself while staying with the Boatwrights and in the end, August tells Lily that she was her mother’s nanny when she was a baby. August explains Lily’s mother’s life, death, and deep love she had for her daughter. Lily becomes certain of three things; she loves bees, she likes Zach, despite him being black, and she is home at the Boatwright’s. Lily makes peace with herself by the end of the novel by overcoming racial conflict and the common thinking of the time, living with August, May, June, and Rosaleen, and overcoming internal conflict by learning about her mother’s death and life. Lily becomes truly happy in the end when she stands up to T.Ray and lives a happy life keeping bees and enjoying life in the Boatwright house.