The Secret Life of Bees is a fiction novel set in 1964 in Sylvan and Tiburon, South Carolina. As the story begins, we as the reader are surprised by the shocking and devastating story of a little girl who accidentally shot her mother. Lily desperately wants to be like every other girl her age, and in order to learn young lady etiquette, which she has missed, she dreams of attending charm school in the spring, however, "[ she] was banned because she had neither mother, nor grandmother, nor even a miserable aunt to give [her] a white rose at the closing ceremony” (9). the story follows her on her quest for self-identification. After finding a photo of a Black Mary, with Tiburon, her father refuses to say a word about her. SC written on the back, among her mother's possessions, Lily wonders if her mother had been to Tiburon and promises herself that one day she would go there because she wanted to go everywhere her mother had been (15 years old. ). With that, she ventures out with her nanny to find out if her mother actually went there. Few books can really grab my attention though; that's exactly what this book does. “The plot is subtle, polished, and superbly executed, allowing Kidd to not only make her points (about the irrationality of racism and the power of the female community), but also to tell a memorable story as she does so. done” (Kephart 62). She demonstrates how moving the irrationality of racism can be when Rosaleen, Lily's nanny, goes out to try to vote and in turn angers a group of racist white men who beat her and then have her arrested. At the same time, she highlights the power of the female community... middle of paper... in their home, helps her find the answers she was looking for and introduces her to the lives of bees and the Honey. Beginning with the impression of being filled with grief, the novel goes into detail about such a tragic event that happened, and it turns out that it has nothing to do with the impression given off. The book is filled with all the answers Lily longs for, and she is greeted by several women throughout the book who fill this void within her. This book is a good read for anyone of any age: young or old. Works Cited Kephart, Beth. “The secret life of bees”. (undetermined). Book (Summit, NJ) 20 (2002): 61-62. Reader's Guide Full Text Selection (HW Wilson). Web.November 13, 2013Chee, Vernon. “Book Review: The Secret Life of Bees.” Blog reviews. Np, Sd Web. November 11, 2013 Kidd, Sue Monk. The secret life of bees. New York: Viking, 2002. Print.