The Secret Life of Bees in 2017 Reading Challenge

Sep 09, 2019 Martha rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, needs-trigger-warning, read-2019, reading-women-challenge-19, unreadshelf2019, read-women-19, 30at30

A lovely coming-of-age historical fiction about Lily Owens, a teenage girl in South Carolina living with an abusive father and haunted by the memory of accidentally killing her mother (not a spoiler - happens early on!). After a racist assault against her friend Rosaleen, Lily and Rosaleen find themselves staying with three beekeeping sisters who Lily believes might have a connection to her mother.

I didn't expect to like this, not sure why, but I was happily proved wrong, it's a lovely story! T A lovely coming-of-age historical fiction about Lily Owens, a teenage girl in South Carolina living with an abusive father and haunted by the memory of accidentally killing her mother (not a spoiler - happens early on!). After a racist assault against her friend Rosaleen, Lily and Rosaleen find themselves staying with three beekeeping sisters who Lily believes might have a connection to her mother.

I didn't expect to like this, not sure why, but I was happily proved wrong, it's a lovely story! The pace felt a little slow at times but the writing was very evocative and I liked all of the characters. The only reservation I had (and still do have) is a white author writing about predominantly African-American characters, many of them experiencing racist acts, told through the lens of a white character. I would be curious to hear from any African-American reviewers about how they felt about the book, recognising that I'm a white woman and may have missed elements that perpetuate stereotypes. It didn't initially feel obviously that way to me but overall it is a group of African-American women mainly existing to save the white main character which doesn't sit well.

There are some areas around mental health and racist assault that some users may find challenging, so I've put content warnings in the spoiler brackets below.

(view spoiler)

Overall, four stars for a well-written story with wonderful characters. ...more

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