by 15 people |
A Coming of Age Novel About Abuse, Racism and Spirit Rising Above It All
The story takes place in Monk Kidd's home of South Carolina during the tumultuous 60's. When Rosaleen goes to register to vote she is accosted by 3 white racists bent on stopping her. She fights back and is beaten nearly to death and then arrested for assault.
Lily rescues her and the two of them become fugitives. Lily's only guide is a postcard of her mother's. She heads towards the honey farm on the card. What she finds are the mothers of her life, the same black women who had tried to mother her own mother.
This story is a fascinating portrayal of a dark time in American history that was the beginning of a better world. We learn more about this time as it is acted out through the life of this girl, her mother and the mothers of her life.
Lily's Story
Sue Monk Kidd
Sue Monk Kidd is the author of numerous Guidepost articles, books on spirituality and two novels, both with political and spiritual themes.She grew up listening to her father's stories and wanted to become a writer, a goal that was encouraged by her teachers who acknowledged her talents. However, when she went to college she took a more traditional rout and went into nursing. She attributed this to, "inexplicable twist that is partly due to a failure of courage and partly due to the cultural climate of the South in 1966,".
She was a nurse for years, while marrying a theology student, Sanford Kidd, and raising two children. Just before her 30th birthday, she got the writing bug again and attended classes at the small college where her husband taught.
She began her career as a freelance essayist, contributing many articles to the conservative Guidepost and Reader's Digest magazines. In her 30's she also began to explore the spiritual writings of people such as Thomas Merton and C.G. Jung. She was one of the first students at the Haden Institute for Spiritual Direction.
Her career flourished as she became a contributing editor at Guideposts and began writing books about the Christian life.
However, in the 90's she had an awakening. Visiting her daughter who was working in a drug store, seeing the way her daughter was treated, she began to see things through feminist eyes. She was still profoundly Christian, but could not ignore what she saw and what her daughter experienced because she was a girl.
In The Dance of the Dissident Daughter she talks about the sacrifices she knew she would have to make to follow her new path. The conservative Christian following that had been the base of her career left her and some attacked. However, she knew she had to forge a new way.
She began her first novel, The Secret Life of Bees in 1997. It was published in 2002. It has sold over 3 and 1/2 million copies and will be released as a movie starring Dakota Fanning and Queen Latifa in October of 2008.
She lives on a salt marsh near Charleston, South Carolina with her husband and their black lab, Lily.
Sue Monk Kidd's Web Site
- Sue Monk Kidd
- Movie buffs will especially enjoy the insights into the making of the movie. Hey, I learned a few inside secrets to the magic from this.
- Book Browser Interview
- Insights into the novels of Sue Monk Kidd.
I Have Been Waiting for This Movie Since I Read the Book
The 2008 Movie
- The Movie Link
- The movie is coming soon, I won't miss it!
Secrect Life of Bees: The Movie Coming in 2008
Please Share Your Thoughts on The Secret Life of Bees
and on This Lens, Stars Always Welcome!
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Reply
- cjjc cjjc Mar 28, 2009 @ 9:46 am
- This is out now. thanks for bringing it to my attention. I love movies and don't want to miss it!
5*, a tweet and a FAV for you, my dear!
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Reply
- julcal julcal Mar 28, 2009 @ 9:23 am
- Thanks for turning me on to this! I'm not much of a movie-goer, although my husband is - so i go with him, for him. I'll bring this up as a such suggestion next weekend. This weekend we're going to see Knowing.
5*, FAV, tweet and Facebook ! YOU GOT IT!!!
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Reply
- Tracy-Russell Tracy-Russell Feb 17, 2009 @ 2:02 pm
- I just saw the movie on dvd. I really enjoyed it and cried of course. Thanks for sharing this information.
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Reply
- OhMe OhMe Feb 2, 2009 @ 2:49 am
- This lens is now featured on South Carolina Symbols and More. Thank you.
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Reply
- OhMe OhMe Nov 4, 2008 @ 4:53 am
- My hubby took me to see the movie last week and it was great. I cried, of course. I thought it was very well done.
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The New Library
Kindle: Amazon's Original Wireless Reading Device (1st generation)
Amazon Price: (as of 12/19/2009)
Any Purchase Here Will Contribute to Heifer International: The Pay It Forward Entrepreneurial Charity
Books by Sue Monk Kidd
The Secret Life of Bees
Amazon Price: $10.20 (as of 12/19/2009)
The Dance of the Dissident Daughter: A Woman's Journey from Christian Tradition to the Sacred Feminine (Plus)
Amazon Price: $10.04 (as of 12/19/2009)
When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life's Sacred Questions (Plus)
Amazon Price: $10.04 (as of 12/19/2009)
The Mermaid Chair
Amazon Price: $10.08 (as of 12/19/2009)
God's Joyful Surprise: Finding Yourself Loved
Amazon Price: $11.16 (as of 12/19/2009)
Bloggers on The Secret Life of Bees
Getting Non Readers to Read
I ThinkThis Book Can Do It.
I hope that the movie will bring a whole new group of readers to this book. I even hope that it will make readers out of non readers. I think this book will be one of the books that can open up the world of reading to more people. Come Join My Salon
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"A" is for "Arrowsmith"
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I began this journey as a lens master on June 21, 2008. I started with the story of how my parents began their first small business. That first lens reached a top rank of 188 overall and 14 in business, and then started back down, getting as low as...
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Fetching RSS feed... please stand byAbout Margo Arrowsmith
Lensmaster Margo_Arrowsmith has been a member since June 21 2008, has rated 2,018 lenses, favorited 120, and has created 129 lenses from scratch. Margo Arrowsmith donates their royalties to Squidoo Charity Fund. This member's top-ranked page is "Heifer International: The Pay It Foward Entrepreneurial Charity". See all my lenses
My Bio
For Arrowsmith Printing 9/22/08
I was born into a small business, I believe that small business and entrepreneurs are the backbone of America and what has made us great. They are what made us great and will save us in these unsure times. I have never wanted to have a great job. Well, better a great one, than a boring dead end one, and I have had both. But I have never really wanted a job at all.
Don't get me wrong, I am a hard worker. I have worked a full-time job, a part time job and a private practice all at the same time for a lot of years in my past. It isn't the work, its the working for someone else. Never wanted to do that, and I don't understand those who want to do that.
When I was six months old my parents bought their first small town weekly newspaper in Iowa. This was back in the day, back when small town newspapers were not just advertising sheets. Perhaps there are still some of them that are real, I hope so.
So I came by this perverse nature naturally. My path to self employment has been different than theirs, but it has always been my path, my direction.
Growing up in Iowa, in the fifties, I also grew up politically conservative. By the time I was 30 I was radically left. Today? I am proudly liberal and what that means will be clearer as we progress.
However, I have had conflicts about 'taking advantage of people'. I now know that employing people is not automatically taking advantage of them, but it took a while for me to learn that nothing is intrinsically good or bad. Well, almost nothing.
I have educated myself in business, I have a small business and I have used EFT and other energy clearing methods to help me clarify the old conflicts and move forward.
My mission here is to provide a forum for people who want to work independently through one person businesses or through employing others and for whom the betterment of human kind is an important value. My lenses are about offering good products, teaching people about betting their lives, and using the money they make for their pleasure and the benefit of others.
That is how I see business and if you have a similar vision I invite you to my blog www.creatingbusinessenergy.com
Margo Arrowsmith
Raleigh, North Carolina
Mother and Grandmother
Clinincal Social Worker, Coach and Internet Marketer
Interfaith Contemplative Minister
Student of life, business, the human spirit that motivates us to be our best in all circumstances.
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