The Secret Life Of Bees

Fourteen-year-old Lily is growing up in 1960s South Carolina, trying to come to terms with the knowledge that aged only four she accidentally shot and killed her own mother. Growing up with only her tyrannical father and a black servant called Rosaleen, Lily pines for her mother and is tormented by guilt. She develops a strange fascination with the bees which creep out of her bedroom wall at night bees which soon become a link between her present, past and future. One day Lily ends up rescuing Rosaleen from a racist incident, and they leave home with only a few remaining items that belonged to Lily's dead mother. These possessions lead them to meet and move in with a family of three black bee-keeping sisters, with whom Lily and Rosaleen develop a close relationship, finding acceptance and love that Lily never experienced as a child. With the help of time and the sisters, Lily learns more about herself, the mystery of her past and the world at large. As the story unfolds she begins to overcome the guilt and unhappiness that she has always suffered. The novel demonstrates that tragic childhood circumstances can still result in love, friendship and happiness. The theme of bees and bee-keeping provides a delightful and unusual undertone. (Kirkus UK)