Hey Her Campus gang! I hope you are all hanging in there as we begin to tackle those finals! My November pick for the Wildcat Book of the Month is one of my favorites, The Secret Life of Bees written by Sue Monk Kidd.
This story is not a National Geographic on the creation of bees. The bees in this story are a symbol that acts as a link between the main character Lily Owens’s life to that of a bee in a beehive. The life of a bee is most fulfilling when surrounded by others and most importantly, the queen bee. When Lily’s mother died, it was like the queen bee had died in the hive and all the worker bees were all out of sorts.
The story is set in 1964 in Sylvan, South Carolina. Lily Owens lives with her abusive father T. Ray on his peach farm. Their relationship is rocky not only because of his abusive tendencies but due to the lack of knowledge Lily has of her mother. She is forced to wear this cloak of shame over what she believed happened and this is what jumpstarts her adventure to know more.
This story portrays scenes that resemble what truly happened around 1964. The day the Civil Rights Act is passed, Rosaleen who is Lily’s housekeeper decides she is going to register to vote and Lily accompanies her. Lily is shown what it was like for African-Americans when Rosaleen is harassed by local racist white men on the street. Kidd demonstrated not only the irrationality of black and white racism but also how Lily herself overcomes her own racism. She has stereotyped African-Americans based on what the people in her town, and primarily her father had told her. When she meets the Boatwright family, that changes. Lily learns that any person can display an array of traits and characteristics regardless of their skin color.
I hope all of your finals go well, and you have a wonderful holiday season! HCXO!