I am officially underway with my reading challenge of 52 books for 2013! For my first book, I selected The Secret Life of Bees.
Set in early 1960s South Carolina, The Secret Life of Bees chronicles the life of Lily Owens, whose mother died in a tragic accident when she was a child. Since her mother’s death, Lily yearned for love and acceptance at the hands of a physically abusive father. Her only connections to her mother are several trinkets she found in the attic, one of which bears the name of an unknown town in South Carolina. After an incident between her African American housemaid and several racist men, she and Rosaleen flee to the unknown town Lily believes her mother once stayed.
In Tiburin, Lily finds shelter with August Boatwright and her two sisters, June and May. August is a beekeeper and quickly takes Lily under her wing. With the “calendar sisters,” Lily learns the true meaning of love and acceptance while witnessing firsthand the divide between races in the early 60s South.
I have kept a never ending list of books to read since I was in 5th grade and The Secret Life of Bees consistently made the list. Alas, I did not get the chance to read it in school but boy, did I wish I had. The Secret Life of Bees is a book that makes me long for AP Literature class where we spent a glorious 45 minutes analyzing metaphors and comparing critiques of imagery and symbolism.
The Secret Life of Bees kept me scribbling on Post Its and my handy dandy Notes app about various extended metaphors and analyses. Yes, I am a bookworm.
If you are a sucker for a good literary analysis, The Secret Life of Bees will be sweet as honey 🙂
(I couldn’t resist a good pun!)
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