The Secret Life of Bees

Ever since I finished reading the novel The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, I have been craving Popeye's biscuits with honey...(one of my favorite comfort foods from my Florida days). No chicken, no mashed potatoes, just an order of 2 biscuits, 4 packets of honey and a medium drink, please! Man! Good stuff!


But I digress - Let me get back to Sue's book, which my auntie sent to me as a gift YEARS ago. I tried to read it when she first sent it, but it didn't catch my interest so it quickly became a dust collector. I came back to the book several times over the years though. I would dust it off the bookshelf, flip it over, read the summary on the back of the book, and read some of the reviews:

"A moving first novel!" "Inspiring!" "Fully imagined..."

Hmmm, I would think. I really want to like this book....

The women on my father's side of the family are a dynamic bunch - all leaders, they are strong, expressive, talented, cultured, entrepreneurs, educated, avid readers and writers. It's without a doubt that I got my love for words from that side of my family; And it wasn't uncommon for Christmas and birthdays to yield books...but I always knew that if I got a book as a gift, it wasn't just any book. It was a Caldecott Award winner or New York Times bestseller, or something! So every time I went back to that bookshelf and dusted off The Secret Life of Bees, I knew there was something special about it...and I as turned the pages, I knew I should read it...but I didn't. I didn't read it until 3 months ago, when I came across a blurb on the internet that said Queen Latifah would play a role in a movie based on none other than The Secret Life of Bees! There was no way I would miss this movie!! But there was also no way I would go see the movie without first reading the book that had been calling my name and collecting dust all these years. - So I finally went back and picked it up.

This time, I couldn't put it down. I finished the entire book in just 2-days. Sue Monk Kidd's writing took me to another place...she so vividly describes each character and each scene with such detail, that I felt like I was there. I could visualize everything she wrote about...with every word the story seemed to float from the pages and unfold in front of me like it was real! Here is one of my favorite moments from the book:

"I don't know how long I sat there feeling broken to pieces. Finally I walked to the window and gazed out at the peach trees stretching halfway to North Carolina, the way they held up their leafy arms in gestures of pure beseeching. The rest was sky and air and lonely space. I looked down at the bee jar still clutched in my hand and saw a teaspoon of teardrops floating in the bottom. I unfastened the window screen and poured it out. The wind lifted it on her skirt tails and shook it over the blistered grass..."

I love it! LOL! Can't you just see the peach trees? The big open sky? Her tears falling into the jar in her hand??! You probably think I'm crazy, but I don't want y'all to sleep on this book - or the movie. And now that I've read the book, I'm even more excited to support the film.

I won't give the story away, but here's a little something to peek your interest on what is in store...

The Secret Life of Bees - Movie Trailer

Click the pic to visit the official website for the film:

THANKS FOR THE BOOK AUNTIE! :)