The Secret Life of Bees

Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees follows Lily Owens, whose life is shaped by the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. Lily lives with her fierce-hearted stand-in mother, Rosaleen, whose confrontation with three of the town’s fiercest racists prompts Lily to flee with her to Tiburon, South Carolina, a place that holds a connection to her mother’s past. In Tiburon they are taken in by an eccentric trio of Black beekeeping sisters. The sisters introduce Lily to a world of bees and honey and to a household centered on a Black Madonna figure as they become entwined in questions about family and identity.